Chase, the Eevee Master
by Chase Nirvs
Summary: Chase has two goals in mind. To become a Eevee Master, and to find his parents. How will he do?
1. Prelude

**I don't own Pokemon. If I did, then I wouldn't write it here. So far, the only thing I own is my character, Chase Nirvs. Well, enjoy!**

* * *

It was a day that I will never forget. I thought that I had the perfect family. I thought that I was going to become a great trainer. I thought that I had a great future ahead of me. And I thought that my parents were the best people in my life. I thought that nothing could tear apart my family. My life was a good as it could've been. Until that one summer night. I can still hear Professor Oak telling me what happened like it was yesterday.

_

* * *

RingRingRing, Phone Call, RingRingRing._

"Who would be calling this late at night?" Professor Oak got up from his table to answer the phone after seeing that the caller ID showed Pallet PD. "Hello, this is Professor Oak."

The Professor saw Officer Jenny on the video screen. "Professor, is there a young boy staying with you, named Chase Nirvs?"

"Why yes," replied Oak. "Can I ask why you are calling at 10:45 at night?"

Officer Jenny looked like she didn't want to give the news to the Professor this late at night, but she did anyways. "Well, there has been an accident involving his parents on their cruise. The ship, _S.S. Relaxation_, has gone down in the middle of the ocean early yesterday morning. The Coast Guard hasn't found any survivors. We believe that the ship went down while most of the passengers and crew were asleep. We also have strong suspicion to believe that the ship went down as a result of a Neo Team Rocket attack. Divers found 'NTR' spray painted in red on some of the windows of ship. We now have every region in the world on the lookout for any NTR activity. I'm sorry to have bothered you this late at night with such bad news. Goodnight Professor." And with that, Officer Jenny hung up her phone and the screen went blank.

"Oh my," that was all Oak could come up with. _What am I going to tell Chase? He's going to be hurt to know that his parents aren't around anymore. I'll wake him tom…_, stopping short when he heard…

"Who was on the phone, Prof?" I had been awakened by the phone ringing and had just made it out of the guest room to the laboratory. Still seeing a little blurry, I watched the professor slowly walk over to me and motion for me to sit at the table.

"Chase, there has been a problem with your parents cruise." He paused, like he was trying to find either the courage or the strength, or both, to tell me what had happened. "For some reason, the ship went down yesterday morning before anyone was up. The Coast Guard and local PD don't believe there to be any survivors. I'm sorry…"

I ran as fast as I could out of the laboratory and into the night. I couldn't listen to him anymore. My parents were gone. Their ship went down. No survivors. Why? Why them? They didn't want to take me with them. Why not? I was their only son; I was suppose to be with them all the time while I grew up. I suddenly found myself in the guest room crying loudly and shaking badly because I had no family. This as the first time that I had felt lost in my entire life. I tried burrowing under every sheet, blanket, and comforter that I found in the linens closet. Trying to remember the warmth I felt before that phone call. While I lay there on my bed, I slowly started to fall back to sleep.

The next day wasn't any better for me to start off with. I went to do the chores that the Professor gave me in the morning. The entire morning, you could say that I acted more like a zombie than anything else. Nothing that the Pokémon on the grounds did seemed to cheer me up. They knew that I was feeling bad, but not how bad because they never saw me this down. It wasn't until late that afternoon that the Professor came home.

"Where'd you go today?" was the only thing that I could say, to weak to say anything else fearing for more bad news.

"Well, I went down to the PD to see if it was alright for you to stay with me until you want to leave. And to have everything that your parent's name on be changed over to your name. Which isn't much, since they only had three bedroom house, a small lot of land, and everything inside. But everything is in your name so nothing will be taken from any pesky lawyers that come around." The Professor stopped and looked at me. I guess that he could tell that I was still in shock.

_Wait, did he say that I could stay with him until I wanted to leave? That means I'm not lost. I still belong here. _"Sure, sounds great! As long as I'm not a burden on you Prof." I couldn't believe it! The Prof had just told me that I could stay with him.

"Burden, no. Actually, I'd like to have some assistance around here since Tracey left to go sketch some new Pokémon in the islands. Also, while you're here, you can learn more about Pokémon so that you have a lot of knowledge before you start your Pokémon journey in two years. How about a deal? You help me for two years, and I'll give you six starters, any of your choice. Plus six months prior to you leaving so you won't have any problems before you leave. Sound good to you?" After the professor finished talking, he walked over to me and held out his hand to seal the deal.

I thought about the deal, for about a microsecond, before eagerly shaking his hand. My hopes rising out of the murky depths that they have been in. Suddenly, I thought of something, "Hey Prof, what caused my parents' ship to go down?"

"Well, uh, the local PD hasn't figured that out yet," Oak replied. _I know Officer Jenny told me, but I don't think that Chase is ready for the rest of the story yet. Maybe one day, he will be._ And with that, Oak walked off to his laboratory.

"ALRIGHT! I have a home again, I'm still going to be a trainer, plus I'm getting extra Pokémon for helping the Prof for the next two years!" I was happy, but another thought darkened my thoughts almost as quickly. _I wonder if mom and dad are watching me? _I couldn't help but look up to the sky, letting a small tear escape.

* * *

I was only eight at the time of the accident. Now, I'm about to start my journey. Next month I turn ten years old and can start my journey. Professor Oak made good on his side of the deal after I did my half. Instead of choosing a variety, like what he wanted me to kind of do, I choose six Eevees.

"But Chase, why not a variety? That way you can overcome every obstacle a little easier." The Prof had a concerned tone in his voice. Over the last two years, I guess I started to look to him like a second father, and he thought I was his son.

"Well, it's a simple matter because I know that Eevee can turn into many forms. Any form that can _overcome every obstacle a little easier_." I purposefully used his tone, just to show him that I had indeed learned some things while working for him.

"I see," mused the Prof. "What about evolving them? When are you going to do that?"

"Only when they're ready to evolve. I'm not going to push them into it if they don't want to evolve. Plus I find the Eevees to be most interesting because of their evolving capabilities. So I guess that I'm going to be the best Eevee Master." As I said this, I was looking at the Eevees that the Prof had granted me.

"Oh, I see that you learned a few some things while working here," Oak said as he smiled. He then grabbed a small box from the wall they were standing by and handed it to me. "I thought you'd feel that way, since you asked for only Eevees. Here, take these, they might help you later on, when their ready." He pointed to the Eevees that started to play in front of them from growing bored.

Prof Oak started walking back to the laboratory. "Finish up your chores and I'll see you at supper." He waved before entering his lab.

I had forgotten about the box he handed my just a few moments ago. I looked inside of it, and gasped at what I saw. Three evolution stones. A Water stone, a Fire stone, and a Thunder stone. _Wow, this is some deal I got. I got to stay with Prof Oak. I got six Eevees before anyone one else could get one. And I got evolution stones to help my dream to be an Eevee Master. How am I ever going to thanked him enough?_ While I thought about this, I ran off to do the rest of my chores, leaving the Eevees to play in the grass near the lab.

After supper, I had to ask the Prof something. "Hey Prof, I thought of something while I was finishing my chores earlier." I had a slightly serious tone in my voice, wanting to only know one thing.

"Sure, ask away my boy." The Prof had caught the serious tone and wondered if I was going to ask anything about the accident.

"Has the Vermilion City PD figured out who sunk my parents' ship?" I asked as straight forward as I could, without breaking down.

"Actually, they only have a strong suspicion. They believe it to have been done by a group that calls themselves Neo Team Rocket. On the windows of the ship, there was 'NTR' spray painted on them before it went down. That is the only thing that they have come up with." As the Prof finished talking, he sat down at the table after washing the dishes. "I'm sorry that it happened. I miss them almost as badly as you do. But I'm sure that your parents would be proud of you for growing up into a trainer who has his head held high. Just some advice before I leave for the lab again. Don't give up hope on your dream of being an Eevee Master. As long as you do that, I'm sure you won't be a disappointment to yourself, me, or your parents." With that, he got up and left for his lab.

I watched him until he went into his lab. _Neo Team Rocket, huh. The only evidence is 'NTR' on the windows of the ship. As soon as I get to Vermilion, I'm going to the PD to look at the evidence file. Then I'm going to find NTR and destroy them like they almost did me! _I looked into the night sky. "You hear me NTR, I'm coming for you, to avenge my parents and those who you killed!" I yelled this to the moon as loud as I could. I was furious. Spray paint. The only clue to my parents' death. It would have been better if there were no NTR spray paintings anywhere. It could have just been and accident in the books. But this was murder. "I WILL GET YOU BACK FOR THIS!"

After calming down a bit, I called all my Eevees into my guest room and got ready for some sleep. I was going to start my training early so that I would have experience at battling with my new Pokémon. The next month would be very exciting, as I try to train while doing my chores and making meals for me, the Prof, and my Eevees. But now, I needed sleep. I went to sleep that night knowing that I had a mission, and a goal. To avenge my parents, and to be the greatest Eevee Master.

* * *

**Well, what d'ya think? If you couldn't tell, this is my first on ff.n . So please review, I know you want to! HAHA! SYL!**


	2. The Beginning

**I don't own Pokemon. Wish I did though. I only own Chase for now. **

**

* * *

**

It was still dark outside when I finally woke up. _Hmm, I wonder why I'm up this early. _I turned to look at the clock on the wall. _What?! It's only 5:30?! The sun won't be up for another two hours! Wait, what do I smell?_ I had suddenly caught a whiff of what smelled like something frying.

Before I knew it, I was dressed and was running to the kitchen. As I screeched to a halt on the kitchen tile, I saw the Prof behind the stove frying some bacon and eggs. Still confused, I looked at the table. Pancakes, sausage, and fruit. Then it hit me. _Oh yeah, today I leave and start my journey. I had completely forgotten that it was today. I thought that it was next week._ I only had time to think that I should go get my Eevees and their food before the Prof turned around.

"Ah, good morning, Chase. Hope I didn't wake you too early with my cooking. But before we eat, you should go get our team and feed them as well." The Prof had laid the rest of the food on the table and went to put up his cooking apron.

Following his advice, I went back to my room and grabbed the pokéballs that my Eevees were in. I made it back to the kitchen before one of the balls popped open and one of the Eevees were out. This had been happening a lot lately. It was always this one. I could never figure out why he didn't stay in his ball like the other Eevees. "Eevee, why can't you stay in your ball like the others?" I asked it.

"Eevee ee vee vee ee!" _Because I don't have to! _Eevee looked up at me with its sad eyes that always won any argument.

"Fine. But after breakfast, you're walking on our journey. And no, I won't carry you." I said that last bit to make it think about what it just said to me. Truth is, I would carry it. Heck, I'd let it sit on my shoulders if it wanted to. But I liked to play mind games on them all. I read somewhere that Eevees are smarter than the average Pokémon, that's why I do it. I do it to help train their minds to think things threw, like the Prof had done with me earlier.

"Vee." _Fine. _Eevee kind of pouted and then went to its bowl and waited for me to feed it and the others.

After the Eevees had started to eat their food, the Prof and I sat down to eat the breakfast that he had cooked up earlier. I couldn't help myself as I grabbed a little of everything and them started to stuff my face. "Gees Prof, this cooking of yours is really great! Better than mine actually. Why'd you make me cook if you could cook better?

"Because I won't be there to cook for you on your journey, and I was busy in the lab." The Prof decided to start eating again before I could ask another question. The rest of breakfast was quiet, except for the noise that a pig makes when it eats. "Don't eat too much Chase. You're not going to feel good later."

"Oh don't worry. By the time I get to leaving, I'll be hungry again." Suddenly, I couldn't eat anymore. It wasn't that I was full yet, it was we ran out of food. "Oops, sorry Prof. Guess I didn't realize that I ate almost all the food."

"That's alright. I don't eat a big breakfast. Anyways, most of that was for you. Now go get ready to leave. The sooner you leave, the sooner you can find who killed your parents." The Prof got up and put his dish in the sink. "Don't worry about cleaning up, Ms. Ketchum's Mr. Mime loves to clean dishes."

Just after I dumped my dish in the sink, Mr. Mime showed up and started to clean the kitchen, dishes first. _Hmm, since I'm leaving, I guess the Prof is getting together with Ms. Ketchum. That's the only reason why she's been here so much for the last year and watching out for both of us that I can think of. Oh well…_ I ran to my room to grab my pack that would hold all my supplies. I made a mental check as I put things in. _Clothes, check. Personals, check. Poké supplies and food, check. Sleeping bag, check. What else could I need? _I gathered my things and started to walk out. "Duh, my camera and computer." I turned around to grab another bag that had my computer and camera. _Now I'm ready to leave!_

"Alright Chase. If you need anything, just give m a call. In fact call me once you get to the city, okay? And here, I know that your aren't going to catch all the Pokémon in the world, but this might help after your Eevees evolve." Prof handed me the newest pokédex that had just been released. "Also say hi to my grandson if you see him."

"And say hi to Ashy if you find him, kay Chase?" Ms. Ketchum asked.

He had to be about 15 or 16 by now, I couldn't remember, and she still called him "Ashy". But I had to stifle a laugh as I replied, "Sure, I'll say hi to both of 'em. Alright, see you guys later!" With that, I turned and headed out of Pallet and started my journey. I walked out of Pallet and started to walk up the hills that surrounded the little town to the north of it. At the top of the hill, I turned to take a last look at it. It seemed so peaceful. I continued to walk on the path, knowing that I could call Pallet home, and would return once I was done traveling.

Pretty soon, the Pallet forest came into view. I stopped and thought, _This is it. The day that my journey begins and my life goes in a new direction. The day I start to figure out what really happened on my parents' trip. I still can't …_

"Vee?" _Chase?_

"Yeah Eevee?"

"Eevee vee ee?" _Whatcha thinking?_

"Oh it's nothing. Just thinking about how our life is about to change once we enter the forest. How everything we know will be tested to the end. The people we'll meet. The Pokémon we'll see. And a few other things. Really nothing to worry about. But …" I just realized that I was talking with my Eevee. I mean, I completely understood what he was saying. And by looking at him, I could tell that he understood me as well. "But the most important thing to me is figuring out what really happened to my parents. And hopefully I can find out in Vermillion. But we'll have to go through a few towns before we get there. So until then, let's make sure that we never give up and continue the course that we are on. Sound good, Eevee?"

"Vee!" _Yep! _Eevee started to run for the woods, leaving me behind.

"Alright, then let's get moving!" I started to run towards the forest after Eevee. Once we were a good bit into the forest, we stopped running to catch our breaths. I mean my breath, because Eevee didn't seem too winded like me. Once I caught my breath, I started to walk down the path with Eevee walking right beside me.

Suddenly, I heard a voice from the trees. "Hey you! With the Eevee! Stop right there!"

_What the heck? _A person stepped out from behind the trees. He looked to be about my age, and a little rough looking. _What does this guy want?_

The kid spoke up first. "Hey, you got an Eevee. How about battling me, against my Charmander that I got last month?" The kid started to look at my Eevee, wondering if he had a chance. "That is, if your not chicken."

"EEVEE!" _LET'S GO!_

"Alright, let's battle!" I watched the kid throw his pokéball and saw a Charmander come out of it.

"Char, Scratch, NOW!"

"Eevee, dodge. Then use tackle!"

The Charmander missed Eevee and Eevee countered using it's tackle, hitting on target.

"Char, Ember!"

"Eevee, let's finish this. Shadow Ball!"

"WHAT, an Eevee can't know Shadow Ball!"

"Wanna bet on that?"

The Charmander let loose an ember attack that was deflected by Eevee's shadow ball as it flew towards the Charmander. The Charmander froze in place, too scared by the shadow ball, and was hit once again. This time it went down and stayed down.

"Char, return." Before I could say anything, the kid turned around and ran into the woods off of the path.

"Great job Eevee! Now that we're done with him, how about lunch?" I asked holding my stomach.

"Vee! Vee!" _Yeah! Lunch!_

I called out my other Pokémon and set out their food and made my lunch. While we ate, I just watched the trees for any sign of other Pokémon or people. But nothing came by. I did notice, however, that the wind had shifted. I sniffed, and could smell water lilies blooming. _There must be a lake or river nearby. But it's not in the direction of the next city. _Just then, one of the Eevees that stayed in the pokéball caught the scent of the water lilies and took off. _Great, this is just what I need._ "Come on you guys. We have to get our friend back." We ran after the Eevee that had run off.

About ten minutes later, we had caught up to the Eevee. It had found the lake and jumped in and was swimming. The other Eevees joined in. _What the heck. I'll let them play while I sit here and watch._ After a while, five of the Eevees were on the shore drying out, while the Eevee that had run off was still in the lake swimming. _I wonder if this is how I'm going to evolve them. I mean, this one seems to love the water a lot. So maybe it would like to be a Vaporeon. _I pulled out the box that had the stones in it and looked at the water stone. _Just maybe _…

Almost as if I called for it, the Eevee in the water came out and walked up to me, looking at the stone closely. "You want this? You want to turn into a Vaporeon?" I showed it a picture on my computer of a Vaporeon. The Eevee looked at me and shook it's head yes. "Alright, here goes." I extended my hand holding the stone to the Eevee. Suddenly, the Eevee started to glow white and grow.

When the glowing stopped, it had turned into a Vaporeon. "Va!" _Yeah!_

"Well, now that you're a Vaporeon, we've got some insurance in case my fires get out of hand," I joked. Vaporeon laughed, as did the other Eevees since they know how much of a fire hazard I am. My attention got diverted by something running through the woods, right in our direction. I realized that it was a girl running as fast as she could.

"Help me, please! I need your help!" I looked behind her to see a flock of Spearow following her.

_Shit, what do I do now?_

* * *

**Thanks to my 4 reviewers on chapter Prelude! Since ya got down to this point, take some time and leave me a message please. Hopefully it won't take me as long on the next chapter. Well, SYL!**


	3. New Friends

**I don't own Pokémon, so don't assume that I do. I only own my human characters, and the plot. Nothing more. Please read, enjoy, and review.**

"Help me, please! I need your help!" I looked behind her to see a flock of Spearow following her.

_Shit, what do I do now? None of my Eevees are strong enough to fight off an entire flock of Spearow. _"Uh, guys, run. Run, NOW!" I didn't need to repeat myself. We started to run and were right behind the girl who had run out of the forest. I looked over my shoulder to see the flock getting closer.

Suddenly, I lost my footing and stumbled to the ground. Slightly dazed, I saw that the girl had noticed and ran back to help me. As she grabbed my arm, she yelled, "Come on! We have to keep going!"

As we were about to start running again, a blue dragon with orange wings flew into view flying right towards the Spearow flock. "Salamence, use Dragonbreath on the flock!" The flock was enveloped in the attack and was scared off. "Alright, let's land and see how they're doing."

Once the Salamence landed and the rider got off, the girl ran up and hugged the guy. "Thanks brother for saving us! I thought I was going to have to run forever." Finally, she stopped hugging the brother. "Oh, I'm sorry, how are you doing?" Without looking up at her, still trying to catch my breath, I knew she was talking to me.

"Fine, I guess. Nope, no injuries," I said while quickly looking over myself, then my Eevees. Walking up to the boy holding my hand out, I said, "Thanks for the save there. My name's Chase Nirvs. What's yours'?"

Taking my hand, he replied, "Adam Masters. And this is my sister, Leta Masters," motioning to the young girl beside him. "We're both from Littleroot Town in Hoenn. I started a few years ago, traveled through the Hoenn region, then Johto, and now I'm here in Kanto. After this, I don't know where I'll go. But as long as there's an adventure, I'll go anywhere. How about you, Chase was it?"

"Yeah, that's me. I just started on my journey and left Pallet this morn…" I was cut off by Leta asking a question.

"If you left Pallet this morning, how come you weren't at the ceremony for beginning trainers?"

I answered, "Because, I thought it would be better to start of early. And I didn't want to run into so many new people today. Don't get me wrong, meeting new people is cool, but I've seen the ceremonies for years. I just hate parties where everyone comes and you don't know more than a handful of people, it just makes me feel nervous. Does that answer you question, Leta?"

"Yeah, but also how'd you get so many Eevees to begin your journey with?" was the second question from Leta.

"Before I answer that, you guys hungry? I was cooking up lunch back at my camp." I started walking back to my campsite where I had left the fire going. As we were walking back to my camp, Leta started talking again.

"So Chase, what's your answer?

_She's a nosy one, isn't she?_ "Well, you could say that I made a deal with Prof Oak and they were part of it. A pretty good deal too."

Both of them seemed shocked. They both shouted, "WHAT? Prof Oak just gave them to you?"

Recovering from the sudden attack, I said, "Yeah." Looking to change the subject, I realized that we were at the camp. "Well, we're here." Just like I left it. Checking the cook pot, I noticed the stew getting ready to serve. Adding some water, the stew became large enough to serve a few people. Dishing out the stew, I handed Adam and Leta a bowl and spoons. "Be careful, it just came off the fire." I laughed and made an 'I burned my mouth' face.

We finished our meal and I started to pack things back up. "I want to travel a little further before I make camp for the night. What are you guys' plan?"

Leta looked up to Adam, who thought a minute. "Well, we really aren't trying to push for any records, so if you don't mind, could we travel with you? I mean, if you don't want us to we can leave."

"No, not at all. In fact, I'd love to have some company. I won't go crazy as soon anyways," I started to laugh softly and saw a faint smile cross Leta's face. _Hey, she does smile!_ "Alright, I'm ready to go, you guys ready?"

"Yup, let's get going," Adam said. At this point, he returned his Salamence and I returned my gang of Eevees, except for the stubborn one. "Uh Chase, why didn't you recall that Eevee?"

"It's easy, he doesn't like being inside of 'em. But I don't care if he stays out. Pokémon can sense danger before humans can, so I see it as beneficial to both of us. Hey, you saw all my Pokémon, what kinds do you two have?" I asked curiously.

Adam responded first. "Well, you've already seen Salamence. But I also have a Swampert, Scizor, Blaziken, Absol and Metagross. They are my friends, and I never go anywhere without them."

Leta spoke up next. "The only Pokémon I have is the one I got this morning from Prof Oak. It's a Charmander. I can't wait until it eventually evolves into a Charizard. I just love Dragon Pokémon. You see, I want to be a Dragon Master. To rule the skies, and the elements, that is my dream. What about you, Chase?"

Thinking about my answer, "To be an Eeveeologist. I know that there are currently six known Eevee forms. But I know that there are more waiting to be discovered. That is why you saw that I have six Eevees. The Prof helped me when we made our deal."

"Speaking of this deal," piped in Adam, "what was the deal? If you don't mind me asking."

"The deal was, I help Prof Oak around his lab for two years, and he would give six of my choice. He also took me in when my parents disappeared when I was eight. So all things considered, I made out pretty good. To tell you the truth, closer to the end, I started to think of him as a father to me." I decided not to tell them about my parents after that. I swore to myself that I wouldn't tell them unless I absolutely had to.

"Wow, that was one heck of a deal. Plan on helping the Prof after you finish traveling?" Adam was dumbstruck that I made out so well.

"Actually, I'm helping him right now. He knows I'm going to be an Eeveeologist. Once I get to Viridian, I have to call him and tell him that one of my Eevees evolved into a Vaporeon already." My answer seemed to be enough that Adam didn't ask anything more about the deal I had made years ago.

After walking a while, we took a short break to rest up before we made our last push for the day. Adam disappeared into the woods for some privacy. Since we were playing 'Million Questions', I decided to ask Leta something. "So why did you decide to start in Kanto with your brother, instead of starting in you home area?"

"Because, I uh, didn't want to travel by myself. And I knew that my brother had strong Pokémon that could protect us if they needed to. And I knew that he would teach me how to be a great trainer like he is. And this was his next region of exploration, so I decided to join him here. Our parents sent me over here to meet him and start my journey."

While we were waiting for Adam to return, I watched over Leta. I realized that I had either been too busy running from the flock of Spearow, or talking to Adam and her to realize how she looked. She had long brown hair that reached to her waist. Light brown eyes that reminded him of milk chocolate candy. She wore a dark green shirt, blue jeans and black running shoes. She also had a brown sling bag, which looked closer to an oversized purse. But it was a sling pack nonetheless. But the thing I couldn't focus on enough was the eyes. Her eyes looked so sweet to me, but then I remembered how terrified they looked earlier today. I burst out laughing and fell to the ground, still laughing.

Totally caught off guard, Leta yelled, "WHAT'S SO DARN FUNNY?!" She couldn't believe that there was actually something funny to be laughing about. All she could do was look down at a brown haired, browned eyed boy who wore khaki pants, a red t-shirt, a denim button up shirt, and a dark khaki cowboy hat (that had fallen of when I started laughing). She kept staring as she waited for an answer.

In between laughs, I tried to say, "The way," laugh, "your eyes looked," laugh, "earli…" I couldn't finish saying what I wanted to say. It was so funny to me now. Confused and angry, she decided she had had enough and wanted to end it now.

"CHASE, IF YOU DON'T STOP LAUGHING, I SWEAR I'M GOING TO HURT YOU!" After seeing that that had no affect on me, she reached into her bag and BAM. She hit me with that magical mallet that every girl seemed to have in their bag.

Dazed, and no longer laughing, I looked up and saw little Eevees dancing around my head. Shaking the daze off, I let loose. "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR?"

"That's for laughing at me. It's kind of like how you don't like big crowds; I don't like people laughing at me. Understand." She looked at me with a glare that left no misunderstanding.

"Yes. But your eyes…" I started to chuckle again, but as soon as her hand went into her bag, I immediately stopped, fearing another lump in my head.

"Oooo, that looks like that hurt a little." Adam finally returned from his private walk in the woods. I only glared at the brother, the one who left me with her. The one who hadn't warned me of her magical mallet. "Sorry, I should've warned you about her temper, and that mallet of hers." Adam started to laugh a little.

_I wish I had a mallet now. I'd show him how I felt about now._ To avoid another head shot, I walked behind both of them as we continued up the path that would take us into Viridian tomorrow. I got a chance to see how the two looked compared to one another at this point. They both had brown hair and brown eyes. That's where it ended. Adam wore a black and red shirt, black and grey pants, red fingerless gloves, and black wrist wraps with a green stripe around them, a green bandana, and finally a green sling pack. _Yeah, they're family alright. And family is a good thing._ I started thinking about my now gone parents. The more I thought about them, the slower I walked. It wasn't long before I couldn't walk anymore; I just stood in one place and started to gently cry. I could feel Eevee tugging at my pant leg, but I just couldn't move anymore. It was like I was paralyzed with sadness.

I watched as Eevee ran up to catch the rest of my little group. It wasn't too long before they came back looking for me. "Hey man, you alright?" Adam looked concerned and walked me over to a log that had fallen over. "I think we should camp here for the night. I don't think that going further today would be a good idea, until Chase gets better." I heard Adam talking to Leta, who just nodded her head in understanding. I watched without care as Adam and Leta set up camp and started to make dinner.

Not knowing if I should tell them about my parents or not, I didn't think I could hide the way I was feeling. Just seeing them together, made me remember how much I missed my little family, my parents. After dinner, I quietly excused myself, set up my sleeping bag and climbed in.

Before I fell asleep, I heard footsteps come over in my direction. Not turning to look at the person, I pretended to be asleep. I was hoping that they would think that I was asleep and leave me alone for the rest of the night. "Chase," it was Leta, "if you need someone to talk to, we're here for you. We'll listen when you want to talk about it." After waiting a few minutes, and not hearing a response, I heard Leta sigh and start to walk away.

"Thanks, Leta." _Maybe I will be able to tell you soon, but not tonight. _"Thanks for your concern."

"Anytime Chase, goodnight."

**Well, this is turning into something interesting. Don't miss the next chapter. I promise something exciting will happen. SYL!**


	4. The Truth

_**Don't own Pokemon. Why do I have to say this? If I owned it, it would have died years ago. Thank you that it didn't. Here's my next chapter, so enjoy!**_

* * *

_Come on, the sun has been up for nearly an hour. Why aren't these two up yet? _I was finding it hard to believe that Adam and Leta were still asleep. I wanted to get moving again and hopefully make Viridian by nightfall. "WAKE UP!" Adam groaned and rolled out of his bag. Leta didn't budge. 

"I'm up, no more yelling." Adam just mumbled as he walked behind a tree to change his clothes. Returning a few minutes later, he found me trying to think of another way to wake Leta up. "I know how we can wake her up. But first, you need to call out Vaporeon." Before waiting for me to think about it, Adam called out his Swampert.

Catching on to the plan, I called out Vaporeon. "Alright, "Adam started to explain the plan. "We use Water Gun on her to wake her up. She hates this, but usually laughs it off soon."

Not wanting to be the target of her anger, I quietly told Vaporeon to ignore my command. "On the count of three," I started the countdown, "three, two, one, Water Gun!" Swampert blasted Leta while Vaporeon just sat there and watched the show.

"AAAHHH!!! Now I'm all wet! CHASE! ADAM! You both are in trouble." Leta reached for her bag and pulled out the mallet.

_How does she fit that thing in her bag? Shit, RUN! _"It wasn't me, I swear! It was all Adam's idea. I didn't even have Vaporeon attack you!"

"Traitor! Leta, I'm sorry, but you were sleeping too long." Seeing that he wasn't making any sense with her, Adam decided to keep a few steps ahead of her as she chased him with the mallet. Finally, Leta started to tire and stopped chasing her brother. "I guess traveling over all the regions has its benefits." Adam returned to camp after seeing Leta give up the chase.

"Are you two done yet? I would like to make Viridian by nightfall." Seeing that I wasn't getting a response that I liked, I decided to tease them a little more. "You'll get to sleep in a bed at the Pokémon Center if we make it." That was all the inspiration that Leta needed, as she gathered up her things and started to walk on.

"YAY, A BED!" Leta was walking so fast that Adam and I had to almost jog to keep up.

Quietly talking to Adam, I said, "Hey Adam, when was the last time she saw a bed?"

Thinking for a bit, "I'd say a few days. We took a boat here from Hoenn. They really didn't have good beds on board though. Then we rode a bus from Vermillion to Pallet. But when we stayed at the Pokémon Center in Vermillion, I think she fell in love with their beds. Then the hotel in Pallet had very harsh beds. In the end, I think she is too soft to…"

"I heard that! I'm not soft. I just would like to relax a little in a comfy bed. Not a flat bed or on the ground every night." Leta was still walking, not looking at us. But she still definitely heard us talking about her.

"Hey Adam," I had another question. "Where'd she get that mallet?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I never knew her to have one before I left to travel. Actually, I never knew she had it until she hit you with it. I just assumed that's what it was since, you know," trying to whisper soft enough to not be heard by Leta, "_she's a girl._"

We walked in silence until about lunch time, lunch time being announced by her growling stomach. "I'm hungry, time for lunch!" Leta stopped right in front of us and immediately started to build a fire to cook some food. Adam and I looked at each other quizzically.

"It's only 10:30 and you're hungry already?" Adam was in disbelief. "You ate breakfast no more than three hours ago. How can you seriously be hungry so soon?"

"I just am. Now, go get some water so that I can boil it." Leta had the fire going already, courtesy of her Charmander. Before long, she had the water boiling and dropping in ingredients to make lunch.

"Well, this lunch is going to put us behind schedule. I was hoping to make Viridian by about 5 in the afternoon. Now we'll get there closer to 7." Receiving a glare from Leta, I sighed in defeat. _Don't want another lump in the head from her mallet. Oh well… might as well let everyone out for some fresh air. _I let all my Eevees out, including the Vaporeon.

"Vee! Va!" My Pokémon all enjoyed being let out.

"Good idea Chase, let's all have some fresh air. Come on out guys!" Adam released his Pokémon and their were happy to be out to.

As my Pokémon got together with Adam's, we went over to see how Leta was doing. "Lunch will be ready in few minutes. Go feed your Pokémon, and feed my Charmander while you're at it." Leta was busy making to final preparations for our lunch as we feed the Pokémon,

"You know, all your missing is an apron. Especially one that says 'Kiss the Cook' " _Wait, that's not what I meant to say._ As soon as I said this, I saw Leta's eyes wonder.

"What's that suppose to mean, Chase?" Leta was looking at me, making me very uncomfortable for some reason.

Waving my hands defensively, "Just a joke. Only a joke, Leta" I turned away, trying to figure out what had just happened. "Excuse me; I have to go real quick."

"Well hurry up, I'm serving lunch!" Leta yelled after me.

After doing my business, I walked back into camp. I saw Adam waiting for me at the edge. "What was that about?" he asked.

"It was just a joke, Adam. You know how all cooks wear that apron. Heck, mine back at the Prof's placed said it." I really didn't know why I said that.

"Come on. Admit it, she's pretty to you. I won't tell her." He kept bugging me about it until we got back to the fire.

"Drop it. We'll talk later." I tried to act like nothing was wrong.

"Talk later about what?" Leta had heard us talking.

"Uh, guy stuff. Right, Adam?" I looked to Adam, hoping he would keep his mouth shut.

"Yeah, guy stuff." He replied.

"Alright. Well, eat up, and then we can continue on to Viridian." Leta sat down to eat her soup. Me and Adam slugged ours down and started getting ready to leave again. "Wow, you weren't kidding about wanting to be there tonight, were you Chase?"

"No, I wasn't. Just hurry up before we loose more time, alright?"

"Fine." She finished and packed all the dishes together. We returned all the Pokémon and started to walk again. We walked side by side, with my Eevee out in front, looking for any trouble that might come our way. But nothing exciting happened all afternoon.

"Well, according to make calculations, we should be about one hour from Viridian." I was looking at the map I had bought before my journey.

"I hope so, I'm getting tired," Leta complained.

"See! I told you she was soft!" Adam started to laugh at her.

_Should I warn him, _as I saw her hand reach into her bag. _Nah, I'll let him find out the hard way. _

BAM! Leta had hit him with the magical mallet of women. Dazed, Adam looked up to see tiny Pokémon floating around his head. Shaking it off, he fired off at me, "WHY DIDN'T YOU WARN ME?!"

"Why, she's your sister. You should know what ticks her off by now!" I defended myself.

"I told you, I'm not soft. Just a creature of comfort." Leta didn't even bother to look at her brother, just rushed right by him and continued to walk down the path that would lead us to Viridian.

"Look! There's Viridian! Last one there is a rotten Pokémon egg!" Leta, for being tired, suddenly had the energy of a five year old and started to run for the city.

"Oh yeah," Adam and I started to run after her. It took a while, but we finally caught up to her.

"Looks like you're the rotten egg, sis," Adam said as he passed her. Suddenly, the ground gave way and the four of us fell into a hole. Recovering from the fall, Adam looked around. "Everyone alright?"

"Yeah, but who'd dig this hole in the middle of the path like that?" I asked.

"We would!" A sinister voice came from above. We all turned our heads upwards to see three human shadows looking down at us. "Now, give up your Pokémon and we'll let you go!"

"Never you creeps!" yelled Leta.

"Do you know who you're talking to? You're talking to Neo Team Rocket. The successors of the old Team Rocket. Giovanni had his chance, and he blew it. Now, it's our turn. Now, hand them over brats." said one of the shadows.

_Neo Team Rocket. _I could feel the anger build up in my body. "You just wait until I get out of here! Then I'm going to destroy you! One by one!" I started to try to climb the sides of the hole, but couldn't get a hold to climb up.

"And how are you going to get out of there, brat?" asked another shadow.

"Chase, calm down. We have to think of a way to get out of here." I could tell that Adam was working on a plan.

But I couldn't think straight. It was Neo Team Rocket, the ones behind my parents' disappearance. I had to get out, I just had to.

"Sala, go! Use …"

"Shit, the kid has a Salamence! We can't fight that thing, run!" Before we knew it, Neo Team Rocket had vanished and we were left alone.

Recalling Salamence, Adam called out Metagross, and had him float us to the top of the hole one at a time. "Thanks Meta. Return. That was weird, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, I want to get rid of them." Realizing that I might have said enough to get them thinking, I said, "Hey, let's get to the Pokémon Center in Viridian and get our beds."

"Okay, let's get going," answered Leta and Adam just followed.

After arriving in Viridian, we made our way to the Pokémon Center. The Nurse in the center saw us come in and said, "Welcome to Viridian City. I'm Nurse Joy, the nurse in charge of the Pokémon Center. How can I help you three?"

"Could you heal our Pokémon and give us two rooms for the night?" asked Adam.

"Sure, here are the keys to the adjoining rooms, rooms 3 and 4, on level C. And I'll take your Pokémon now and bring them up to you later this evening, alright?" asked Nurse Joy.

"Sounds fine to me," I replied.

"Okay, I'll see you in a bit!" Then Nurse Joy disappeared behind the double doors to look over the Pokémon.

"Anyone hungry for hamburgers and pizza? I saw this place on our way here. I'll treat!" Adam asked us.

Adam was almost knocked over by Leta and my yelling, "YES!"

While we were eating supper, I had to relieve excuse myself. In my absence, Leta asked her brother, "Why did Chase flip out like that when Neo Team Rocket trapped us earlier?"

"I don't know," he responded. "But 'I'll try to figure it out later."

After eating supper, and getting our Pokémon back, we went up to our rooms for the night. Leta got her own room, while Adam and I shared a room. Adam had gone to bed, but I stayed up to read the paper that had been delivered earlier today to the room. Scanning through it, I found an article concerning New Team Rocket. The day before, two kids had fallen into a hole, and were forced to give up their Pokémon. _The same dang technique used on us. Just they weren't expecting someone to have a dragon type, I guess. Sooner or later, I will get rid of them._ I hadn't noticed that I was shaking the paper so much from anger that I jumped out of my chair when Adam tapped me on the shoulder and surprised me.

"Calm down man. What's up?" he asked, surprised by my actions.

"It's Neo Team Rocket. They did this before to others. They're stealing other trainers Pokémon. Just like the old Team Rocket." I tried explaining it to Adam.

"It seems to go a lot deeper than that with you. As soon as they said they were Neo Team Rocket, it was like you went postal. You wanted to tear their heads off. What did they do to you to warrant such actions?" Adam queried.

"Let's just say, that I have a score to settle." I replied.

"Does it have to deal with your parents?" he asked.

Not knowing really what to say, or how to say it, I got up and walked to the door. "Come on Eevee, we're going for a walk." I walked out of the room with Eevee and left Adam in the room by himself.

Adam walked over to Leta's room. "I think I know why he flipped out."

"Well, why?" Leta asked curiously.

"I think they are the reason his parents's disappeared a few years ago." explained Adam.

"Poor Chase." Leta looked out the window to see a dark figure walk out of the Pokémon Center with something walking beside him. "What should we do, Adam?"

After thinking for a few minutes, Adam finally spoke up. "We can't do anything, unless he wants us to. This is his fight, not ours." Leta kept watching the figure as it walked into the park nearby and disappeared from view.

* * *

**_Well, that's it for now. Tune in next week when I put up the next chapter, hopefully. That is if I survive work this next week. LOL!_**


	5. Friendly Battle

**I don't own Pokémon, I won't own Pokémon. No, you cannot sue me. Like I said before, I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

**

" " - talking

_Italics - _thinking

Xxxxxx - break in day or event

Xxxxxxxxxxxx - change of days

* * *

"Good morning, Prof. It's me, Chase." I was talking to Prof over the video phone at the Pokémon Center. "I've made it to Viridian City, and one of my Eevees had already evolved."

"Really, how did this happen? I thought that you weren't going to evolve until a little later." The Prof has a quizzical look on his face upon hearing that I had an evolved Eevee already.

"Short story, Prof. One of my Eevees found a lake and wouldn't come out of it. Almost like it loved the water. So I pulled out the water stone and thought if he wanted to be a Vaporeon. As I thought about it, he walked up to the stone, and he evolved. I didn't do anything except give the stone to it." I explained.

"Hmm. Seems like it wanted it, and you provided that thing needed. Oh, just to let you know, there was a brother and sister that left here a while after you left. Their names were Adam and Leta…" I cut the Prof off.

"Masters." I finished.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"They kind of caught up to me. So now we're traveling together." I said.

"Well, keep up the good work. Call me if something exciting happens. And tell the Masters I said hi." Prof hung up.

_Yeah, I will. Meanwhile, what am I going to tell them about my behavior yesterday? Maybe I'll just pretend it didn't happen. They don't need to know, not yet, if ever. This is my fight, not theirs. _I started to walk back to my room to see if Adam was up yet, or Leta. It was almost breakfast time, and I wanted to continue soon afterwards.

"Hey kid," I heard a voice behind me snap me out of my thinking. "Were you just talking to Prof Oak?"

"Yeah, what's it to you?" I answered, as I turned around to see the person who talked to me.

"He's my grandpa. I'm Gary, Gary Oak. Leader of the Viridian Gym. What's your name?"

"My name is Chase, Chase Nirvs. Future Eeveeologist."

"So, an Eeveeologist? What have you got so far?"

"Oh nothing special, just a Vaporeon that evolved just the other day, and five Eevees. A gift from Prof Oak."

"Here, I'll treat you to breakfast, and you can tell me how my gramps is doing. Alright?"

"Fine by my. What's good to eat around here?" I followed Gary out and next door to the Poké Buffet.

"For trainers, including us, this is the best deal. All the food you can eat. And everyone who stays at the Center can eat here for free. Let's get our food and talk while we eat." Gary walked up to the buffet and started grabbing some food. I followed suit.

Xxxxxx

"Where the heck is Chase?" Adam asked Leta after getting a shower.

"I don't know, but I'm getting hungry. Let's hit the buffet place next door for breakfast." Leta was worried where Chase was, but she was more worried about eating.

"Fine, let's eat, then find him."

Xxxxxx

"And that's how I got my Eevees from the Prof. And he gave me evolution stones to evolve them, like I did with Vaporeon already. But I already told you that story." I finished eating and telling him my story so far.

"So you plan on taking to Indigo challenge Chase?" Asked Gary.

"Not yet. I want to collect the badges, but I don't think the challenge is my thing. I might change my mind later. But my friend I think would definitely want to."

"Oh, so when you want to challenge me for a badge, don't think I'll go easy on ya. You're just another trainer when you step into my gym." Gary leaned back into the chair and smirked.

Copying him, I replied, "Wouldn't want it any other way."

"You mentioned you wanted to be an Eeveeologist. I happen to have an Umbreon. He's my best Pokémon, and he is my friend. The only way I got him was when he really trusted me, and he evolved at night. Just keep that in mind, as they evolve. Well, I have to get to Cerulean, to see a friend of mine." Gary got up to leave.

"But wait. Aren't you the gym leader here? What if someone were to come a challenge you?"

"I'm closed for most of the week. Not too many trainers come here. But I am open three days of the week, Tuesday through Thursday. I'll be waiting for our match." And with that, Gary walked out, called out a Pidgeot, and flew off towards Cerulean. As I watched him leave, I saw Adam and Leta walk in and find me.

"Chase, what are you doing in here? What happened to waiting for us?" Leta was mad. Before she could do any harm to me, I started to tell them what happened.

"I met Prof Oak's grandson, and we came in here to talk. Prof never told me that his grandson was the Viridian City Gym Leader. But he had to take off. Just like we have to after you two eat breakfast. I'll be waiting in the center for you two with our stuff. Later." I walked out before they could argue, but I heard Leta mumble something to Adam, but I couldn't make it out. _Geez, I hope they don't play thousand questions later._

Xxxxxx

After breakfast, we started back on our journey. I was looking at the map and trying to figure out where to go. "According to the map, the next city is Pewter. They also have a gym there. The first gym that everyone challenges. But to get there, we have to go through a forest."

"Well, let's get going, the sooner we get there, the sooner we can get the badge and continue on." Leta was energetic. She couldn't wait to get there. Neither could I, or Adam.

After a while of walking, I saw the forest coming up. "There it is. The Viridian Forest. The first real place to train. Lots of Pokémon."

Xxxxxx

"Ooooo, a Caterpie, how cute!!!" Squealed Leta. "I'm going to catch it."

"But I thought you were going to be a Dragon trainer?" I asked.

"I can still be a dragon trainer, but I need Pokémon now. When I find a dragon Pokémon later, I trade them out and build up my team." She turned her attention to the Caterpie that she had seen. "Go, Charmander. Use Scratch." Her Charmander rushed to Caterpie and scratch it. The Caterpie used tackle and tackled her Charmander. "Okay, use ember." Charmander sprayed fire from its mouth and struck the Caterpie. The Caterpie then used its tackle again and hit Charmander. "Poké ball, capture Caterpie." She threw the ball and it sucked the Caterpie inside. We all waited patiently as the ball shook few a few seconds. Finally, it stopped and dinged that the Pokémon was capture. "YES! I CAUGHT A CATERPIE!"

"Good job," I picked up her Poké ball and handed it to her. "Now let's continue and get a move on."

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Still walking through the Viridian Forest, we were growing bored since we haven't seen many Pokémon or other trainers. Adam let me and Leta do most of the battling, since he mostly had higher level Pokémon. While Leta was trying to catch her Pokémon, I mainly focused on the trainers that we came across. But we haven't seen many of either since Leta caught her Caterpie. She had managed to catch a Pikachu, which promptly after capture, jumped back out of its Poké ball. It didn't try to run, it just wouldn't stay in its ball.

"Guess you don't like the ball, don't cha?" Leta asked while looking down at the electric mouse.

"Pi"

"Alright. If you promise to behave, I won't ever try to put you in there."

"Chu!"

Xxxxxx

"Man, what I would do to find a trainer to challenge right now." I was getting more bored as the day went on. It had to be around mid afternoon.

"What do you mean, Chase? There is a trainer that you can challenge right here," stated Adam.

Looking for a fight, "Where? I don't see 'em!"

"She's right in front of you." I cringed, knowing who he meant. Leta. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to fight her. But I was getting bored enough that I started to consider it.

"Yeah, a friendly battle. How about it Chase?" Leta looked happy, and willing to do anything to get rid of the boredom.

"Sure, but it wont be friendly. It'll be all out, see what you got. And just to make things fair, I'll only use three of my team, since you only have three anyways." _I can't believe I'm doing this. But I'll do anything for fun._

Adam stepped into his referring position that he claimed. "Alright, this will be a three-on-three battle between Chase of Pallet, and Leta of Littleroot. First one to have their team unable to battle loses the battle. Ready, begin!"

"Eevee, go!"

"Caterpie, I choose you!"

"Eevee, use tackle!" "Caterpie, use string shot!" Eevee hit Caterpie head on, and then Caterpie sprayed Eevee with its silk thread, slightly slowing it down.

"Eevee, again with tackle!" "Caterpie, use your tackle!" Eevee hit Caterpie again, collapsing it on the forest floor. Caterpie tried to get back up, but failed and collapsed once more and stayed down.

"Caterpie is unable to battle, Chase wins this round," announced Adam.

"Go, Charmander!"

"Eevee, sand attack!" "Charmander, Ember!" Sand flew into Charmander's face, while it spit fire, and missed Eevee.

"Nice fire works display. Eevee, tackle!" "Charmander, scratch!" Eevee tackled Charmander. While Eevee was close in, Charmander scratched Eevee.

"Once more Eevee, tackle!" "Ember!" This time, Charmander hit its target in the face with it's ember attack. Eevee fell to the ground, not able to recover.

"This fight goes to Charmander," declared Adam.

"Vaporeon, it's your turn now! Water gun!" "Charmander, dodge and scratch!" But Charmander couldn't move fast enough, and was blasted with water. Charmander fell, unable to battle, soaking wet.

"This round goes to Vaporeon. It is now two to one. Chase needs one more round to win the match," explained Adam.

"Alright, Pikachu, go and use tackle!" "Vaporeon, return. Eevee, (A/N: the one that stays out all the time, a different one was used in round one) tackle!" Both Pokémon hit each other head on in the middle of their tackles.

"Pikachu, thundershock!" "Eevee, sand attack!" Sand flew towards Pikachu's face, and it missed Eevee because it couldn't see clearly.

"Let's try this again, tackle!" "Tackle also Eevee!" Both Pokémon hit full force tackles on the other, and then both collapsed.

Adam watched as both fell to the ground. "The first to recover and stand will be declared the winner." But neither Pokémon were willing to loose so easily, and recovered at the same time. "The battle is still on then!"

"Tackle Pikachu!" "Tackle Eevee!" Both Pokémon hit each other again, and fell to the ground. Not having to repeat himself, Adam stayed quiet until neither Pokémon seemed were going to recover soon.

"This round is a tie. Neither Eevee nor Pikachu are able to continue the battle. Since Pikachu was Leta's last Pokémon, the win goes to Chase!" Adam announced.

"Good job Leta. You would have definitely had me if I kept my Vaporeon out."

"Yeah, and I almost won." Leta looked a little sad having lost her first trainer battle.

"Keep up the training, and I'll have to watch my back with you. I might even lose to you one day," I teased her.

"Keep up **_that_** attitude, and I will beat you," she motioned to her bag.

Cringing, "Fine, have it your way. By the way, I have a feeling that you're going to want to train your Caterpie a little bit more before we get to Pewter. You'll see what I mean later." I knew the reason. I knew that the Pewter Gym was a rock specialty gym. I had even met the leader, Brock, when he came to visit the Prof whenever his friend Ash came home for a while.

"Why, you know something that I need to?" asked Leta.

"Maybe, but I won't tell you. And don't bother threatening me with that mallet, it won't work in this case." Watching Leta, I could see she was trying to figure out whether or not to hit me out of anger from me not telling her the reason, or if she was still mad from losing.

"Fine. I might follow your advice, even though you won't tell me why. Hey, its getting darker now. You guys want to make camp?" Leta asked and looked up at the sky.

"Sure," replied Adam. "After a close battle like that, I think we should all take a break for the rest of the day. Let your Pokémon relax and recover for tomorrow's adventure." Adam started to gather firewood to build a fire. Soon, we were cooking a stew over the fire.

Studying the map, I found where we were. "Hey guys, I think we're about a third of the way through Viridian Forest. If we travel at this pace, we'll make Pewter in two nights. Then we can relax for a night at the Pokémon Center before we go and challenge to gym leader there."

"Sounds like a good plan," said Leta as she started to eat her stew.

"But before then, we need to train your Caterpie more. I think that you're gonna be surprised when you see why." After we finished eating our stew, we all went to bed.

Shortly after going to bed, I could hear Leta sleeping softly, but couldn't tell if Adam was asleep yet. Deciding it was alright, I climbed out of my bag and sat by the now extinguished fire. I looked up to the sky and thought about how strong I would need to become before I could challenge Neo Team Rocket. _Hehe, if NTR is as strong as the three who tried to steal our Pokémon, then I have no problem. But my gut tells me they were weaklings. No duh, they were weak. They didn't even try to fight Adam's Salamence. But to bring them down, I'm going to need to be strong. That's why I won't stand for a friendly battle, it's all or nothing. I have to put in all my strength if I am to succeed. _

"Hey, man. What cha thinking about?" Crap, Adam was awake still. Good thing that he was still in his bag. Otherwise, he might see my face say the opposite of what I meant next.

"Oh, nothing. I just want to stay awake for a bit." I lied. I hoped that he couldn't hear the lie in my voice, but I was glad that my face was turned away from him.

"Alright, don't stay up to late. Or I'll have to water gun you awake in the morning." We shared a laugh, and then he went back to trying to sleep. I climbed back into my bag and stared up at the stars until my eyes couldn't stay open. Next thing I knew, I was asleep and resting up for the next day.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Continuing our journey through the Viridian Forest on our way to Pewter, Leta was training her Caterpie every chance she got. It was around lunchtime when a trainer appeared.

"Hey, you with the Pikachu. Want a fight?" The boy looked like he was pretty sure of himself. But what he didn't know was how well Leta was coming on her training so far.

"Well…," Leta was a little less than enthused about having another trainer battle.

"Go ahead Leta, I know that you can take him," coaxed her brother.

"Yeah, this will be no sweat compared to our fight yesterday. Crush him," I felt that she could do it. She needed to, if she wanted to beat Brock.

"Alright, let's do this!" exclaimed Leta after getting her spirits boosted. "Caterpie, go!"

"A Caterpie? Ha! Go Rattata!"

"Caterpie, String shot!" "Rattata, tail whip!" Caterpie's string wrapped around the rat and slowed it slightly. Rattata's tail whip, lowering Caterpie's defense.

"Caterpie, Tackle!" "Rattata, Tackle" Both Pokémon hit each other head on. But the rat fell to the ground and struggled to recover. However, Caterpie stood its ground, waiting for more.

"Caterpie, finish…" Leta got cut off.

"I give up, don't hurt my Rattata any more." The boy recalled his Rattata and took off.

"Yay, my first victor……" Once again, Leta was cut off seeing her Caterpie glowing. "What's happening, why's my Caterpie glowing?" It was glowing because it was evolving. Evolving into a Metapod.

"Meta."

"Leta, your Caterpie evolved into a Metapod. And your one step closer to being able of defeating most of your challengers." I explained more to her, about why I thought she should train it more, and she figured it out.

"So, if I train it some more, it'll evolve again? Into something that will be stronger?" she asked.

"Yeah, plus it'll give you an advantage when we get to Pewter. Watch, you'll thank me later for this. I'd give your new Metapod a few more battles, and then we'll see what we got." After I got done talking, I could see that not only Leta was impressed by my knowledge, but so was Adam, since I too have only begun my training. "It's all the learning that I did while I lived with a Pokémon expert like Prof Oak."

"So what about your training Chase? Are you going to be ready when we get there? You know, with you helping her out like this and not training yourself." questioned Adam.

"Oh trust me, I'll be more than ready. I just don't want to see her loose to the leader. Because that would make us stay here and have her train until she could beat him." I answered.

"You seem to know a lot about this gym leader in Pewter. Do you know him or something?" asked Leta.

"You could say," I said smiling. "But I won't tell you anything about him, because he is a friend of mine. It would be unfair for him for you to walk in knowing his weakness beforehand, and you have yet to meet him. But trust me, you'll both like him after you do."

"Alright, why don't we get a move on towards Pewter then. I think that we might have to camp out for another night. It's already mid-afternoon." Adam motioned for us to continue on.

Xxxxxx

After setting up camp for the night, the group started to make preparations for dinner. Looking for an excuse to have some alone time, I decided to go gather some fire wood. "Hey guys, I'll be back in a bit. I'm just going to go gather some wood."

"Don't be too long, we can't start cooking without the wood," Adam called out.

Xxxxxx

I returned to the camp with the wood for the fire. Adam took the wood and started the fire and started to cook the fish that he and Leta had caught in the river next to our camp. Before long, the fish was ready to be eaten.

"Hey Adam, are you planning on challenging any gyms here?" I asked.

"Nah. I'm just here to explore and help out Leta. I have no reason to challenge them, because I was ranked number one in the Hoenn region two years ago. And that was before my team was as strong as it is now. But when the league tournament starts back up, I have to go back there and defend my title." Adam then went on to entertain us with the stories of his travels.

When Adam was done telling his stories, I turned to Leta and asked, "How far do you think that you'll go here?"

Taking a while to answer, she responded, "I'm not going to enter the Kanto tournament. I'll just collect every badge I can, including every region, once I get to the region. But I want to compete in the Hoenn tournament, just to see if I can challenge my brother there. And when I do, I'll beat him!"

"Ha, in your dreams! You can't beat me. I have more years on you. How do you think that you will beat me?" questioned Adam.

"One way or another, you won't be the Hoenn champion for much longer. And one day, I do plan on beating you. I just hope it will be televised, to show a younger sister beat her older brother. What a show that would be!" Leta went on dreaming about beating her brother in the tournament.

"Uh, Leta? Let's focus on the present. Not on an event eons from now, kay?" Although I dreamt about the future from time to time, I always remembered the past and focused on the present.

"Party pooper. Can't I get excited about the future?" she demanded.

"Sure, get excited. Just don't plan a victory speech just yet. Remember, I will be traveling through Hoenn. And I might enter the tournament. Now, you'll have two people to get passed. And don't forget, you lost to me once already." As I finished, I saw Leta just glare at me.

Seeing that things were just about to get worst, Adam cut in. "Why don't we get some sleep? I think we all need the rest."

"Fine, but I won't sleep anywhere next to him," Leta pointed a finger at me, and walked off to get ready for bed.

While she was off, I asked Adam, "What did I do?"

Sighing, he responded, "I guess she's surprised that you even thought about entering the Hoenn tournament, after she said she wasn't going to enter the Kanto tournament. I think she was going to leave that for you, since you live here."

"Honestly, I don't know if I will. I just wanted to push her to train harder. That's all." Seeing that she was returning, we quit talking about her and climbed into our bags.

"Were you guys talking about me behind my back?" Leta asked.

"No, just more guy talk," replied Adam.

"Yep, guy talk. Night everyone." I said.

Both Leta and Adam then bid night, and we went to sleep.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Once again, I was the first one to wake up in the morning. Since the sun hadn't risen yet, I decided to let my partners continue to sleep. After changing my clothes, I gathered some firewood and started a small fire to cook breakfast. While I let the fire grow, I was looking at the map, trying to determine where we were in the forest. Finally, I figured that we were over half a day's walk to Pewter. _Leta needs to get her Metapod to evolve either before her battle with Brock or right at the beginning. That is if she stands a chance at winning that fight._

Realizing what I was doing, I started to scold myself for caring so much about someone else, and not enough about myself or my Pokémon. _Just because I think I have a sure fire way to beat Brock, he might think of what I'm thinking. And then he would adjust his battle technique, or his entire lineup just because of me. I need to train myself to overcome him._

"So, this is what the fox does in the early morning hours." I had been so buy thinking and staring at the map, that I hadn't notice Leta get up and come over by the fire. "I had actually planned on waking up early to surprise both of you boys. But I guess that you beat me."

"The fox? Why compare me to a fox? I just do this out of habit," I explained.

"Can't you see, _Eevee _trainer?"

Then it struck me, like lightning does a tree. Eevee, the fox Pokémon. Why had I not seen that one coming?

"You always seem to be thinking of something. Every now and then, I think that you get so deep into thinking, that you block out everything else and stop what you're doing. Just like the first day we met you. You were right behind us. Then the next thing we knew, you had stopped and had a blank look on your face. Actually, if it wasn't for your Eevee catching up to us, we would have not realized you were gone until nightfall. If you don't mind me asking, why did you freeze up like that?" Looking over to Leta, I saw something that I hadn't seen in years. I saw concern in her eyes.

_Is she for real? Does she really care for someone that she only met the other day?_ Knowing why I froze that day, I wondered how much I should tell her, tell the both of them. "Well, to tell you the truth, it happened about two years ago. My parents had gone on a vacation, and never returned. They never called, sent a letter, and were never heard from again. No one has even seen them since that time. And seeing you and your brother reminded of the family that I had at one time. I just got choked up on old memories. So along with becoming an Eeveeologist, I hope to find out what happened to my parents…" I didn't want to tell her that Neo Team Rocket might have been behind their disappearance. Not yet, if ever.

"So what about the time when we fell in the hole dug by Neo Team Rocket?"

"I've always hated NTR since the first day I heard about them. Actually, they tried to steal some Pokémon from the Prof's lab after he took me in. It's a good thing that their were stronger trainers there and they defeated NTR. Actually, it was Ash, Brock, Gary, and this girl that I can't remember her name. She had beautiful orange hair, that I do remember."

Looking towards where the sun was started to rise, Leta asked, "Should we wake up Adam yet?"

Seeing that she still wanted revenge for the other day, I laughed softly. "Why not. But I'm not a part of this."

Leta walked over to her Pikachu and softly woke it up. Before long, she was telling it exactly what she wanted done. "Thundershock Adam."

"Pika…..chu!"

"AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!" Slightly charred, Adam got out of his bag and looked around for the perpetrator of waking him up. "LETA!"

"That's for the other day, with the water gun."

"Fine, even?"

"Maybe."

"Good," I interrupted. "Let's eat breakfast, and then get on to Pewter. I figure that we're less than a day away from Pewter. Once we get there, when can check into the Center Hotel and rest our Pokémon and ourselves."

Xxxxxx

The rest of the day was pretty much uneventful. Sure Leta challenged a few wild Pokémon, but there were no trainers around to challenge. "Geez, this must've been the worst week for Pokémon training. Not a single trainer battle, and I can already start to see signs of Pewter City up ahead," I mumbled.

"What was that Chase?" asked Adam.

"Just that it was a boring day. No trainer battles. And I can see Pewter up ahead now." I answered.

"So how much more training do you think I'll need before Pewter, Chase?" asked Leta.

"Not much more. I think you Metapod is ready to evolve yet again. But once it does, you'll see why I told you so." My answer seemed to please her. She started to look for another wild Pokémon to train against. But before she could find another Pokémon, we heard voices from somewhere in the trees.

"Neo Team Rocket is our name."

"Stealing your Pokémon is our game."

"We steal all Pokémon, strong and lame."

"Stealing Pokémon day and night."

"You won't believe your sight."

"Surrender now, or you'll lose the fight."

"Busch."

"Mic."

"Miller."

"Spreading our destruction everywhere."

"If you fight us, we'll take your dare."

"You'll be shocked to the point of stare."

"""As we steal all your Pokémon."""

All three NTR members threw out a Poké ball and released their Pokémon. The one named Busch let out a Houndoom. The next one, Mic, released an Absol. And the third one, Miller, sent out a Zangoose.

"So, we can do this the easy way, you give up now. Or, we can do it the hard way, we beat you to a pulp, then relieve you of you Pokémon," smirked Busch.

"Trust us, it would be easier on you to surrender," laughed Mic.

"The choice is in you hands now," glared Miller.

Adam spoke first. "We won't surrender. Absol, come out!"

"We'll fight to the end. Eevee, let's go!" I said.

"And we **won't **lose to you. Go Metapod!" finished Leta.

* * *

**So close, but yet another set back. Will they escape NTR? If you want to be on my private email list, send me a line, and I will tell you when the next chapter is up. As always, please leave a review, as this is the only way that I can tell if you like it, and how to improve. Until next time, read, laugh, and have fun!**

**Can anyone figure out where I got the names for NTR?**


	6. Pewter

**I don't own Pokémon, I won't own Pokémon. No, you cannot sue me. Like I said before, I don't own Pokémon. **

" " - talking

_Italics - _thinking

Xxxxxx - break in day or event

Xxxxxxxxxxxx - change of days

* * *

_Shit, they're too strong. Maybe we should have run when we had the chance._ Chase looked on as he watched NTR decimate his friends and his Pokémon. They had knocked out all of his and Leta's team, and Adam's was just barely holding on. Adam was down to his Salamence, and the only way it was surviving was in the sky. _They only used their three Pokémon, and had nearly defeated us. And their laughing about it. _Whispering, I said, "This can't be happening. This has got to be a bad dream."

"What can we do now?" Leta had lost all her Pokémon, and was looking at me for answers. "We have to give up."

Shocked at her response, I kept trying to think if a way out. But, there was no way out. Still whispering, "No, this can't be the way it ends. No."

Leta kept watching her brother fight a losing battle. I could see her shaking, and her brother sweating badly.

"No," a little louder. I saw Salamence start to hover closer to the ground. It was tiring. And soon it would be over. As NTR called out their final command, I snapped. At the top of my lungs, I yelled, "NOOOOO!!!!"

Suddenly, a sandstorm rose up and made seeing very hard. Leta was shocked, as was I. But Adam had seen the blessing that we were giving. He quickly recalled his Salamence and started to run from the battle. "Come on guys, this is our only chance to get out of here!" As he ran past Leta, he grabbed her arm and continued on. Looking once more to where NTR had been standing, I turned and followed the other two.

Xxxxxx

When we thought that we were a safe distance from the attack, which involved seeing Pewter City, we all stopped running and collapsed at the side of the path. "Whew, that was close," Adam said after he caught his breath. "Thank goodness that sandstorm rose up when it did. I didn't know you could summon a storm with your voice Chase."

Still breathing hard, I replied, "I can't. My guess is that someone was watching us and decided to help at the last minute. Or it was a freak of nature weather system. Either way, we're lucky to have escaped. You two alright?"

"Yeah, but that was too close for me," said Leta.

"Let's get to Pewter, heal our Pokémon, and report this to the police." Adam started walking towards Pewter. Leta walked beside her brother, and I followed behind them, lost in my thinking.

_It's going to take a lot more to defeat them than I thought. I have to get stronger than I thought too. And I can't do this alone I see. If I am to succeed, then I am going to need help. But how much? _I interrupted my thoughts to listen to what Leta and Adam were talking about.

"How do you think that sandstorm came about at the right moment to let us escape?" Leta asked her brother.

Thinking for a while, Adam finally said, "I honestly don't know."

To myself, _There are only two people that I know of that have a sandstorm attack that was as strong as that. A natural sandstorm wouldn't be that strong. It was either my friend, or his brother, who also happens to be my friend. I'm going to have to thank them when I see them next, which won't be long. _Then I found myself surprised when I heard Leta ask me something.

"Whatcha smiling about Chase?" Leta asked.

"Oh, I have an idea of how that storm came up. But, I think it be best for me to stay quiet for now. Just in case someone is following us." I pointed around us and saw Leta look in every direction, trying to find someone.

"Come on, there's no one here but us?!"

"Later, I promise." Seemed to please her. _Boy, I hope I'm not wrong. _

Xxxxxx

"Nurse Joy, can you take care of our Pokémon." We had made it to the Pewter City Pokémon Center.

"Sure, I'll bring them out in a bit."

"While we're waiting, let's go get a bit to eat. I know this pizza joint that's right up the road. I'm buying." I offered.

"Sure, I think we could use the food." Adam and Leta followed me and we went to the pizza shop that I went to all the time when I went to Pewter last year with the Prof to visit all the gyms. _Yeah, that's right. I have the advantage of knowing all the gyms' weakness. I hope you guys still go here._

Sure enough, after getting to the pizza joint, literally, it's called 'Pizza Joint', I saw the two I was looking for. "Hey Brock, Forest. I knew I'd find you here."

"Uh, Chase. How'd you find us?" asked Brock.

"Remember, I hung out with you guys for a week. If it isn't the gym, or flocking over girls, you two are here. And I see that you're still up to saving people, eh Brocky?" I asked.

"Yeah, we see these three kids getting their butts beat, so we had to save them from NTR. And take it easy on the girl thing. I actually have steady girlfriend now. And no more _Brocky_. That's only for _her _to say." Brock answered, seeming to be annoyed.

"What, no name yet? You've been dating her for a few months now, and you can't tell me a name yet?" I questioned.

"Not for you. What business do you have for me this time? The Prof send you on an errand run?"

"No, I got my license to train. And, I'm traveling with two people. Meet Adam and Leta. Both form Littleroot town in Hoenn." I introduced the two to Brock and Forest.

"Hi, I'm Brock, and this is my little brother, Forest. I'm also the Pewter City Gym Leader. Forest is my assistant. So, when are you going to challenge me?" asked Brock, looking at both me and Leta.

"Not yet, our Pokémon are getting healed by Nurse Joy. Our Pokémon took a beating from NTR earlier." replied Leta.

"Oh, so that was you guys. Sorry about that, if I had gotten there a few minutes earlier, we might have been able to help you guys. But when we got there, we saw the Salamence getting ready to be defeated, so Forest had his Geodude use sandstorm to give you guys a way out." apologized Brock

"So it was you who saved us?" asked Leta looking at Forest.

"Yep, sure was. They were strong, weren't they?" said Forest.

"Yeah. You knew that storm was because of them didn't you Chase?" I nodded my head yes.

"And to thank you guys, I'm buying for everyone!" I announced.

"Great, and while we're eating, why don't you tell us more about yourselves, Adam and Leta."

"Sure, what do you want to know?" asked Adam.

Xxxxxx

After the pizza, we left Brock and Forest and went back to the Center. "I'm sorry you three. Your Pokémon took such a beating that they're going to have to remain in the care room into morning. But they will be ready to be picked up then. Here are the keys to your rooms for the night. Rooms E and F, floor E. See you in the morning."

Walking up to the rooms, Leta couldn't complain enough about having a chance to sleep in a real bed. Whispering to her brother, I said, "Is she going to be like this the entire trip?"

"Maybe, but she might settle down," replied Adam. Reaching our rooms, we bid night to Leta and entered our room and went to our beds and fell asleep after the day we had.

Xxxxxx

"Mother, Father. We're sorry to deliver the weekly report so late. We got caught up in a sandstorm that took our chance at getting some strong Pokémon." It was NTR making a report to their boss.

A male voice came through the videophone, "Why didn't you get us the Pokémon?"

Another voice spoke up, this time a female's voice. "A sandstorm? That shouldn't have bothered you three."

Looking at the two dark figures on the videophone, all three NTR thugs started to explain what had happen. After explaining, they waited to hear what their boss had in plan for them.

"We want you three to follow the brats, take their Pokémon, and then we might forgive you stupid mistake," threatened the male.

"Yes sir. Transmission over," answered Busch. After turning off the videophone, he turned to his team. "We have to do this quickly. The longer it lasts, the less we will be forgiven. We might even loose our jobs over this."

"So tomorrow, we go out in search for these brats," added Miller.

"And take revenge on whoever started that sandstorm. You know that wasn't a natural storm. That was just too strong to be natural." finished Mic.

Xxxxxx

"You know," said the male shadow, "our son is ten, and I think that he will be training Pokémon now. We have to move fast if we are going to convert him to our side before it gets to be too late."

"I know," replied the female shadow. "But after what supposedly happened two years ago, do you think that he would have the heart to do something that he always promised us. I mean, with us 'dead', would he go through on a promise he made us? We're gone in his mind. But let's keep an eye out just in case."

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

"Hey Leta, let's do some final training before we go and challenge Brock for our badges." I said while eating my breakfast at the Poké Buffet. "I think that your Metapod is just about ready, and I think he'll be your best bet against the team that Brock has set up."

"Sure, but why are you pushing my training so hard? What about your training?" asked Leta, looking worried.

"Don't worry about my training. I have it all planned out, and I have a surefire way to win." _Unless he changes his battle plan just for me._ "Well, I'm done. You ready?" I asked.

"Yeah. Hey Adam, what are you going to do?" ask Leta while she was getting up from the table.

"I'll just have a look around town. See if there's any place that I want to visit here. But I guess I'll be back at our rooms before too long. You two just go have fun and train." With that, Adam got up and walked out of the buffet.

"Well, let's get going. There's a place not to far from here where there are some Pokémon to train against, and usually there are some trainers in the area to battle too. You might even find another Pokémon to add to your team, to help against Brock." I lead Leta out of the buffet and on our way to the route that would later lead to a mountain.

Xxxxxx

We had arrived at the place where I thought the perfect place to train would be at. "Okay, before we do any training, tell me why you're so concerned about my training than yours." Leta's comment caught totally off guard. I glanced over to her, and saw that there was the same look that she had whenever she wanted to use her mallet. But, it looked less threatening. More curious than threatening.

Clearing my throat before I spoke, "It's because I know Brock's weakness in battle. He trains with rock Pokémon, and they are weak against water, plant, and psychic attacks. Your Charmander won't do you any good, neither will that Pikachu. But you Caterpie, now Metapod, stands a chance. But not in it's current form. We have to get it to evolve into a Butterfree. Once it evolves into that, it learns an attack called Confusion. Confusion is a psychic attack. Following me?"

"I guess. Is that why you evolved that Eevee into a Vaporeon so soon?" she asked.

Answering, I said, "No. I evolved it because it was the one that seemed to love the watery environment. The other Eevees didn't seem to care about the water, but that one did. So that's why I evolved it. Not because I wanted an easy way to beat Brock. Heck, at the time, that thought didn't even cross my mind."

"Oh. So you think that you have an easy win against Brock, and that's why you're pushing my training a little. How can I thank you for helping me so much? I mean, you don't even know that much about me, and you're treating me like this." Leta paused while looking at me.

I could tell that there was something going on, but I couldn't quite put a finger on it. But I had another plan on my mind right now. "You can thank me by training and then beating Brock. I loose the battle if you don't win, even if I win _my _match. Now, let's find some wild Pokémon to train against, with any luck, we might even find a trainer up here." _I hope that Forest remembers to come up here; I need him to help me train her. He's the only one strong enough around here to do so._

Xxxxxx

"Well, well, well. Looks like I get a chance to see if the new girl from Hoenn has learned anything." It was Forest. He came walking down the mountain after coming from behind a boulder. "I thought there wasn't going to be any activity up here today, so I came up here o relax. But two people came up here to disrupt my peace. For that, I challenge you to a battle."

_Geez, Forest. Take it easy on the whole trainer talk. She only needs to battle you so that her Metapod will evolve. _"Okay Leta. You can take him. Remember what I told you earlier." She nodded and took a step towards Forest.

"You want a battle, then let's battle! Metapod, come on out!" She threw her pokéball and her Metapod came out.

"Shhh. That's it? Geodude, let's do this!" Forest let out his Geodude.

"Metapod, harden." "Geodude, defense curl." Both Pokémon did their defense moves and readied themselves for the next battle attack.

"Metapod, tackle." "Geodude, tackle." Both Pokémon hit their targets and seemed to bounce off one another. Geodude didn't look fazed, but Metapod looked a little damaged.

_Good, it will evolve here soon, _I thought.

"Metapod, tackle again." "Geodude, rock throw." Metapod hit Geodude, with little effect. Geodude threw rocks that seemed to come out of its body, and hit Metapod on target.

"Metapod, harden." "Geodude, tackle." Metapod tried to harden before Geodude struck, but Geodude was faster. It hit Metapod, and its shell cracked even more, and started to glow white.

"What's going on now?" asked Leta.

"Your time to challenge Brock has come." I answered. We watched as a Butterfree came out of the old Metapod shell.

"Free!"

"Okay, Butterfree, use Confusion." "Geodude, use rock throw again." Before Geodude could attack, Buttterfree's eyes glowed blue and a blue aura surrounded it and Geodude. The next moment, Geodude had fainted, making Leta the winner.

"Yay!! I have a Butterfree now! Now I can challenge Brock, right Chase?"

"Yup. Now it is time." I replied. "Time to start our badge collecting."

* * *

**Sorry this isn't as long. I just couldn't concentrate this week, but wanted to get something up. So, read and enjoy. Next chapter will be full of action, I hope. That is, if I get any sleep this next week.**


	7. Brock's Challenge

**I don't own Pokémon, I won't own Pokémon. No, you cannot sue me. Like I said before, I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

**

" " - talking

_Italics - _thinking

Xxxxxx - break in day or event

Xxxxxxxxxxxx - change of days

After battling Forest, Chase and Leta returned to the Pokémon Center to heal Leta's Pokémon and prepare a battle plan for her challenge the next day. "Forest is suppose to tell Brock that we're going to challenge him tomorrow. But, which one of us that goes first is still up to decide. Why don't I go first so that you can see how to beat Brock? Granted, you're going to have a different attack pattern. But, seeing his moves will help you determine a counter, alright?"

"Sure, sounds good to me," replied Leta.

"Great, let's try to get some sleep. I bet Adam is still up waiting for us." I opened my door to see that Adam had already fallen asleep on his bed. "Okay, so I was wrong, I'll see you in the morning Leta, goodnight."

"Goodnight Chase," answered Leta.

Xxxxxx

Waiting near the entrance to Mt Moon, the three NTR thugs were setting up another trap. "When those brats get here, we'll trap them and steal all their Pokémon. Then we'll see how they escape!" Mic exclaimed.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

I woke up before the sun rose above the horizon like usual. Looking over to Adam, I was that he was still sleeping. Walking into the bathroom door, I realized that it was locked from the other side. _Shit, I forgot our two rooms share the bathroom. She must be in there doing something. I guess I'll wait until it's open._ I sat down beside the window and watched the sun rise slowly.

Whispering to my Eevee, I said, "This is the day that we finally challenge Brock. Unfortunately, Aquis is going to be my choice of Pokémon today. Hope you don't mind." Aquis is the name I gave my Vaporeon a short time ago.

"Vee." _No._

"Good, but I don't know if Brock is going to change his tactics for our battle. So you might be used." I reached over and patted Eevee on the head. He seemed to like this and just laid there. I continued to watch the sun rise.

Xxxxxx

Leta was getting more impatient as she waited for Chase to finish eating breakfast. "Come on, the sooner we go, the sooner we'll win."

"You should know by now that you can't battle on an empty stomach," I retorted, as I continued to eat.

"Humph." Leta just sat back down, arms crossed, and glared at me. I guess the glaring wasn't working, so she started to tap her foot under the table. Seeing that wasn't working either, she got up and walked outside.

"Geez, could you tell me why she's so impatient all of a sudden? She was in the bathroom forever this morning." I asked Adam.

"Nope, not a clue. Maybe she's just nervous and wants to do this quickly. But, then again, I haven't seen her for three years, so her habits could have changed." he responded.

"Well, I'm done, you ready Adam?"

"Yeah, let's find Leta and go to the Gym"

We walked outside to find Leta on the bench, waiting looking up at the sky. "Come on, we're ready now."

"'Bout time. Let's do this!" exclaimed Leta.

Xxxxxx

"Hey Brock! Me and Leta are here to challenge you for out badges!" We walked around the gym, but couldn't find Brock. "Hmm, where could he…"

"Sorry guys, I had to buy groceries this morning." We turned around and saw Brock entering the gym with a few bags of food. "So, you two here to challenge me?" Me and Leta nodded our heads. "Alright, but how about a team battle? You two against me and Forest?" Leta and I looked at each other. "Forest told me that you two worked like a team to help get Leta's Butterfree. I want to see if that teamwork of yours is any good in battle."

"Alright, you're on," I answered.

"Bring it on," replied Leta.

"Fine, but not here in the Gym. Let's go to the mountain to do this." Brock started to walk out, and we followed him to where he wanted to battle.

Xxxxxx

"My name is Rocky. I'm the official Pokémon League Battle Referee for Pewter City. The challengers are Chase of Pallet, and Leta of Littleroot. The challenged are Brock and Forest of the Pewter City Gym. This is going to be a team battle for the Boulder Badge. Two Pokémon per team may battle. Have both teams selected their Pokémon?" He paused long enough to see everyone nod yes. "Great, then let's start the battle!"

"Onix, come on out!" yelled Brock as he threw his pokéball.

"Geodude! Let's rock this battle!" Forest released his Geodude.

"Alright, Butterfree, let's go!" Leta sent out her Butterfree.

"Aquis, let's do this!" I saw everyone's reaction to the name I had given my Vaporeon. I laughed to myself quietly as I released my Vaporeon out of its pokéball.

"Great, now, let the battle begin!" Rocky raised his flags signaling the beginning of the battle.

"Onix, tackle Butterfree!" "Geodude, use rock throw on Vaporeon" Onix tackled Butterfree. Geodude threw rocks, but Aquis dodged them.

"Butterfree, use confusion on Geodude." "Aquis, water gun on Onix!" A blue aura surrounded Geodude and he seemed to be slightly dazed. Vaporeon sprayed water onto Onix, making it roar in pain.

"Rock throw on Vaporeon, Onix." "Team rock throw, Geodude." Both Onix and Geodude used rock throw on Vaporeon. Vaporeon was able to avoid one set, but was hit with the other attack.

"Butterfree, use confusion on Geodude again." "Double teaming, eh? Aquis, water gun on Geodude." Geodude was dazed by the confusion attack, and then because of its daze, it couldn't avoid the water gun attack. Geodude also became confused.

"Onix, tackle Butterfree again!" "Geodude, also tackle Butterfree." Onix went to tackle Butterfree, but due to Geodude's confusion, Geodude tackled Onix, preventing it from tackling Butterfree.

"Butterfree, use confusion on Onix." "Aquis, water gun on Geodude." Onix was dazed by Butterfree's attack. Vaporeon sprayed water onto Geodude, making it yell, and then it fainted.

"Geodude is unable to continue. This is now a one on two battle. Onix versus Butterfree and Vaporeon. Continue." Forest recalled his Geodude and quickly got off the battle field.

"With Forest gone, I'm going to have to step up my game. Onix, use dig!" Onix dug into the ground and prepared to attack from underneath.

"Aquis, prepare for the attack." "Butterfree, watch out for Onix." Both Pokémon waited for the Onix to reappear.

"Now Onix, do it!" Onix came out of the ground from beneath Butterfree and tackle Butterfree. Butterfree floated to the ground and then fainted.

"Butterfree is unable to continue. This is now a one on one battle. Onix versus and Vaporeon. Continue." Leta removed her Butterfree and went to join Forest to watch the remainder of the match.

"How about a little bet, Brock? I win, you tell the name of this girlfriend of yours."

"And if I win, Chase, you'll have to wear a pink bandana instead of that red one that you're wearing now."

"Fine, shall we continue?"

"Let's. Onix, tackle" "Aquis, dodge, then water gun." Onix came in to tackle Vaporeon. But at the last second, Vaporeon jumped out of the way and sprayed Onix with water, making it wince and growl.

"Onix, dig underground." Onix dug underground again.

"Aquis, wait for the next attack from below." Vaporeon nodded and waited for the rock snake to come back up.

"Now Onix, attack Vaporeon." Onix reappeared and tackled Vaporeon before I could shout out a warning.

"Aquis, are you okay?" I saw that it wasn't getting up quickly.

"Va." Vaporeon slowly got back on its feet and faced Onix.

"Finish it Onix, tackle!" "Aquis, water gun for the win!" Onix rushed in to Vaporeon, but Vaporeon sprayed water right into Onix's face, causing it to growl and miss its target. Onix growled once more, before it collapsed to the ground defeated.

"Onix is unable to battle. This make Chase and Leta the winners of this Pokémon Gym Battle." Rocky declared, shortly afterwards, he disappeared.

"Congratulations Chase. And Leta. As the rules state, I must give you two this badge." Brock handed Chase his Boulder Badge, while Forest handed Leta her badge. "That was a great battle. Let's go back to my place for supper, after we heal our Pokémon at the Pokémon Center.

Xxxxxx

"Hey Brock, you lost the bet. Who is your girlfriend?" I was getting anxious to find out who it was. I could only think of a few girls that he could have convinced into dating him.

"Better than tell you, why don't I show you." He said this more like she was at his place, than a question.

"Whoa! She's living with you guys?" I was taken aback. I figured that he could get a girlfriend, but one to live with him was another story.

"Don't worry Chase, she's only visiting. And here we are. Back at the gym." Opening the door, we could smell something being cooked in the kitchen.

"And she cooks?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, sit here, and I'll go see if she can come out." Brock motioned to the couch and loveseat in his living room and left to go see his girlfriend.

Without really thinking about it, both me and Leta sat on the loveseat and Adam sprawled out on the couch and relaxed. After a few minutes, Brock came back into the room, followed by a young lady behind him. She had teal colored hair and brown eyes. "Well, here she is. My girl, my love, Susie. Susie, this is Chase, Leta, and Adam. Chase and Leta just defeated me earlier and earned their badges."

"Oh wow! Which Pokémon did you two use?" Susie asked.

"I used my Butterfree that Chase helped me train." Leta released her Butterfree.

"I decided to use Aquis." I let Aquis out of its pokéball.

"Vapor!"

"Oh how cute! A Vaporeon! How'd you get it?" Susie asked.

"Short story, Prof Oak gave me six Eevees, this one loves water, it evolved, and that's how." I quickly explained.

"Six?"

"Yeah, I want to be an Eeveeologist. So Prof helped me out to begin my study." I recalled Aquis, as Leta did Butterfree. "Hey Brock, were you really going to make me wear that pink bandana, or were you just fooling?"

"I was serious. I wanted to see if you were man enough to do it. And if that water gun attack hadn't worked, you'd be wearing it right now."

"I know, but I won." I grinned; knowing that I had came close to humiliating myself big time. "But to let you know, I would have worn it if I lost."

_Ding!_

"Good to hear, time for supper!" We all got up and went to the dining room where the food had been placed.

"A great battle deserves a great dinner, so let's eat!" exclaimed Susie.

Xxxxxx

After supper, me, Brock, and Adam went into the living room to watch TV for the rest of the night. Meanwhile, Leta and Susie stayed in the dining room and talked about being girls in a group of boys.

I started to notice that I wasn't thinking about what was on the TV much, because I was thinking about the battle earlier. Me and Leta had worked like a good team. _What's going on with me? I'm suppose to be watching TV, but I'm reviewing my battle. We beat Brock and Forest. But wait, I need to get stronger to defeat NTR. I need to focus all I can to also overcome anything. I need…._

"Chase? You still with us? It's time to go back to the hotel." It was Leta. I looked at the clock. _11:30! _

"Yeah, time to go. Thanks for supper Brock. Nice seeing you Susie. See you guys later!" We left and started walking our way to the hotel.

Adam was walking in front of me and Leta. I was looking up at the stars when I heard Leta ask me something.

"Why'd you space out like that earlier?"

_Was that concern in her voice I heard? _"Just thinking. I was reviewing our battle, looking for a weakness in the attack pattern, to prevent any problems in the future. Why?"

"Oh nothing. Just curious. You spaced out for like an hour an a half. You were sitting in the living room watching the TV, and then me and Susie came in the watch with you guys. Then it was like you were out it. In your own world."

"Nope, nothing wrong here. Well, here's the hotel, let's get up to our rooms and get some sleep. We leave for the next city tomorrow."

"What city is that, Mr. Kanto?"

"It would be Cerulean. And if you're going to do that, it's Mr. Nirvs." I could see her quietly laugh in the moonlight before we entered the Pokémon Center Hotel.

* * *

**Sorry its been so long. I had absolutely no energy lately, and was only able to do a little at a time. But I got this chapter done, so it's off to the next one. Sorry its short. Like I said, I have no energy.**


	8. Coming Around the Mount

**I don't own Pokémon, I won't own Pokémon. No, you cannot sue me. Like I said before, I don't own Pokémon. **

" " - talking; _Italics - _thinking

Xxxxxx - break in day or event; Xxxxxxxxxxxx - change of days

Chase - 10 yrs;Leta - 10 yrs; Adam - 13 yrs; Megan - unknown

* * *

Waking up before the sun, I quietly got out of bed and went over to the bathroom door. Grabbing the handle, I softly turned it, half expecting it to be locked like yesterday. But it wasn't. After doing my business, I walked back into my and Adam's room and went over to the window to watch the sun rise like I always do.

After a while, I felt something bump into me and I looked down. It was my Eevee. "You know, you are like a little shadow. You followed me out of bed, into the bathroom, which I kept you out of, and now you're here bumping into me. Wait a sec, what if I named you 'Shadow'? Would you like that name?"

Seeming to think about it for a minute, the Eevee looked up at me. "Vee." _Sure_.

"Alright, from now on, you are to be called Shadow. Hey, let's go for a little walk before these two wake up. I'm getting bored here." I grabbed my other poke balls and slipped out our room.

Xxxxxx

"What was the name of the next city again?" We had barely been on the path for an hour when Leta asked the question.

"Cerulean City. And when we get there, I'll introduce you to my S.S. She's a cool gal, but also is the gym leader there." Thinking about her, I started to get hungry for some strawberries. _Mmm, strawberries. I haven't had some in a while. _

"Your S.S.? Who may that be?" Adam looked at me with a confused look.

"S.S., as in Special Someone? Does Chase have a crush on this gal?" Leta started to tease me about it.

I let the teasing go on for a while. After a while, I decided to clear it up. "No, not a special someone. A _Strawberry Sister_. She loves strawberries just about as much as I do. She claims to love them more, but we'll see. And every time we see each other, we challenge each other to a game. But first, we have to go through Mt. Moon."

"What, we have to go through a mountain?" Leta stopped walking and started to shake.

"Dude, what's her problem? All I said was go through a mountain." I whispered to Adam.

"She's afraid of going through a mountain. Our parents almost died in a cave in. They made it out okay, but ever since then, Leta's been hesitant about going into one." Adam explained.

Taking in the information, I said, "Oh. So how do you think we should continue. We'll be there in a few hours if we get her walking again. But there are some rare Pokémon in…"

"Rare? Any dragon Pokémon?" Leta snapped out of her trance.

"No, no dragons. But there are fairy types in there." I explained.

"Nope, don't want to go in there then." Leta stomped her foot to make sure she got her point across.

"Alright, well we don't have to go in the cave. I guess we could hike around Mt. Moon," suggested Adam.

"Yeah, we could I suppose. Might even see a dragon if we climb up the side of Mt. Moon. Hmm, I wonder if there is a moon dragon." We started to walk along the path until we could see Mt. Moon in the distance.

"See, there it is, Mt. Moon! The obstacle that leads to the next city, Cerulean. Last one there is a rotten Pokémon egg!" I started to run towards of Mt. Moon, with Leta and Adam close behind.

Xxxxxx

Close to the entrance of Mt. Moon, Neo Team Rocket had their trap laid out and waiting for the trio to come. "Hey Busch, Mic! Here come the brats!" Miller had warned his team mates and they waited for the trio to get caught in their trap.

Xxxxxx

"Let's rest a while before we continue around the mountain." Leta pleaded, trying to catch her breathe.

"What? Is the rotten egg breathless?" teased her brother.

"Alright, break time. Let's rest under that tree over there." I pointed to a tree and we started to it to rest in it's shade.

"Shade! I'm tired of walking." Leta plopped down at the trunk of the tree. After a while, Leta got an idea and snuck up on me and Adam. "Tag! Your it!" Leta had tagged Adam.

Catching onto the game, I quickly got up and ran away from Adam, just like Leta did. "Well, there goes the break." Adam got up to chase us. Before Adam caught us, NTR's trap sprung up and caught the three of us in its net.

"Perfect! Now we got you brats!" NTR walked out of hiding and smirked at their captives. "Mic, Miller. You two keep an eye on them while I see what they left in their bags." Busch walked off to the tree that had our stuff. After ruffling threw our things, he came back holding the box of stones Prof Oak had given me. The only good thing about it was that it was locked, and I had the key. "Who has the key to this?" He glared at us.

"None of us," I replied. "That's a package I'm suppose to deliver to someone in Cerulean."

"What's in it?" Mic questioned.

"If you must know, it carrying cursed items," I lied.

"Why would you carry cursed items?" Busch asked.

"Because, you only get the curse if you open the box and you weren't the one meant for the items. And besides, I wasn't planning on opening the box myself." I answered.

"Where's the key?" asked Miller, looking sick at the mention of a curse.

"With the new owner of the box," I continued.

Lifting the box above his head, Busch retorted, "Well, I don't believe in curses. I'm going to find out what's in the box." With that, he slammed the box to the ground, smashing it. Sifting through the debris, he found the used water stone, and then the thunder and fire stone. "Cursed items, eh?" he said, holding the items.

"Yeah, cursed," as I threw three poke balls out of the net, releasing two of my Eevees and Aquis "All of you, tackle and retrieve the stones!" All three of them attacked Busch. As he fell, he let go of the stones to catch his fall. Aquis got the water stone, and the other two Eevees recovered the other two stones. As soon as they grabbed the stones, they started to evolve.

With NTR's attention drawn away from their trap, Adam pulled out his knife and started to cut through the netting. As he cut, the net gave way and we fell to the ground with a thud. "Salamence, come out!"

"Butterfree, let's go!"

"Aquis, Jolteon, Flareon. Time to battle!"

"Zangoose, revenge." "Absol, payback." "Houndoom, demolish."

"Salamence, Dragonbreath!" "Butterfree, confusion!" "Water gun, ember, and thunder shock!" All five attacks combined with each other's and struck the opposing NTR team and exploded in their faces. The force of the explosion sent them flying into the evening sun.

"Curse you kids, we'll be back!" they yelled before going out of earshot.

"Wow, that was easier than last time. Shoot, they're weak against us." We all stared into the sky where NTR had disappeared.

"Well, let's camp here for the night and climb the mountain tomorrow," I said. Getting an approving nod from Leta, probably because she thought I would've forgotten her fear of the cave. Adam recalled his Salamence, and Leta did her Butterfree. I recalled Aquis, but didn't recall my new Jolteon or Flareon. "Now what am I going to name you two?" I asked looking at them.

"How 'bout Sparks and Flame?" asked Leta.

"Or Lectic and Blaze?" Adam suggested.

"I like Sparks and Blaze. What do you two think?" I asked Jolteon and Flareon.

"Jolt!" _Sure!_

"E on !" _I like!_

"Alright then, thanks for your help then, Sparks and Blaze. Now, take a rest." I recalled them and put their poke balls on my belt.

"Cool, now you have a Vaporeon, Flareon, Jolteon, and three Eevees. Three of which have a nick name." Leta said.

"Actually, four of them have a name. This Eevee," I pointed to the Eevee out of its poke ball, "is named Shadow. I just named him that this morning, before we went for our walk."

"So that's where you went this morning," Adam said slapping his forehead. "I told you Leta, he wouldn't leave us." Adam laughed at Leta. "She was afraid you were leaving us behind this morning, that is until you came to breakfast."

"I wont leave you two, I promise. So don't think that okay?" I asked Leta.

"Okay. Let's get some sleep so we can continue in the morning. Oh, about how long before we get to Cerulean?" Leta asked.

"Let's see. One day to go around Mt. Moon. Then another to travel route 4. So we should be there in two days, or three if we rest a lot in the next two days. Then we'll be in Cerulean. But, let's get some sleep."

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Waking up, I felt something on top of me. Opening my eyes slowly, I could make out the silhouette of Shadow's head. He was looking very intently at me. "Well, what are you doing on top of me, Shadow?" He jumped off of me and made to the edge of the campsite. He stopped and turned to look at me. "What, is there something out there?" He disappeared into the brush. _What did you find now?_

Following Shadow, I quietly walked out of the campsite to find him. Calling out to him quietly, "_Shadow, where'd you go?_"

"Ee vee!" _I'm here!_ I followed the voice until I found him.

"What did you … " I stopped short when I realized what I was looking at. "That's a skin. A shed skin. And it looks like a dragon's skin. I bet Leta would like to see this. Good job Shadow." I patted him on the head as I rolled it up and walked back to camp.

"Chase, another pre dawn walk?" asked Adam.

"You could say. Leta up yet?" I looked over to her bag and saw that she was still asleep. "Good, Shadow found this just a while ago." I unrolled the skin to let Adam see it.

"Holy Mew! I think that's a Dratini's skin. But what would a Dratini be doing in this area?" Adam asked, while examining the skin.

"Migrating, heck if I know. I just know there was one here a few days ago, judging by the dryness of the skin." I was staring at the skin so intently that I hadn't realize Leta got up to see what the commotion was.

"Whatcha got there?" she asked, catching both us guys off guard.

Recovering from the attack, I said, "I believe a dragon's skin."

"Really?! It's skin? Where is it now?" Leta grabbed her stuff and started to wander into the forest.

"Chances are its gone by now. I think the skin is a week old. So it could be anywhere now." I tried to reason with her, but she kept tracking through the forest, looking.

"Or, its right here!" she exclaimed, pointing into a clearing. Indeed, in the clearing, there was a Dratini. Right beside the dragon, however, was another, older, girl. And the girl was petting the Dratini.

"Well, that explains why the skin is here. But who is she?" asked Adam.

"Let's go see," Leta said, walking into the clearing. "Hiya, is that your Dratini?" she asked pointing to the Dratini.

"Yeah, she's mine. She was a present to me from my father a few months ago. And she's my first Pokémon. My name's Megan." the girl said.

"I'm Leta. My brother Adam, ' she pointed to her brother who quickly said hi. "And our friend Chase," as she pointed at me like she did with her brother.

"Nice to meet you. You on your way to Cerulean?" I asked.

"No, but I drove out here from Cerulean. I'm just out to explore today. Say, would you like to battle Leta?" Megan asked.

"Sure, I'd love to! Who you going to use?" Leta questioned.

"Dratini, of course. She's the only one I have right now. You?"

"My Charmander," Leta replied and released Charmander.

"Char Charmander!" _Hi everyone!_

"This is going to be a one on one battle. Megan with her Dratini against Leta with her Charmander. Ready? Begin!" Adam lowered his arms signaling the beginning of the battle.

"Charmander, use scratch!" "Drake, use wrap!" Dratini got scratched and Charmander got wrapped up by the Dratini, making Charmander unable to move much.

"Charmander, use ember!" "Drake, keep it up!" Charmander breathed fire right into the Dratini's face and the Dratini released the Charmander.

"Charmander, scratch again!" "Drake, use twister and finish it!" The Dratini summoned a small twister before the Charmander could scratch it. The wind from the twister blew the Charmander back and hit a tree, knocking it out.

"And Charmander is unable to continue. Drake is the winner!" Adam announced.

"That was a good battle Leta. Maybe the next time we battle, the outcome would be different." Megan returned her Dratini after thanking it for a good battle.

"Yeah, but that will happen after I become a stronger trainer." Leta returned her Charmander as she softly thanked it.

"Well, we need to get a move on. I think we can get to the other side of the mountain by nightfall. Then make Cerulean the tomorrow night." I said, pointing in the direction of Cerulean.

"Or I could give you a ride in my car. I got plenty of room." Megan offered.

"Sure, we'd love to," exclaimed Adam.

"Me too," said Leta.

"Go ahead, I'll walk my way," I said as I started to walk. _You won't get stronger if you take the easy way to something. You have to work for it, even if it is the hard way._

"On second thought, I'll stay with Chase." Leta said before I got out of earshot.

"Fine, see you two in the city," Adam said as he climbed into Megan's car.

After seeing them drive off, Leta ran to catch up to me. "Why didn't you want to take a ride into Cerulean, Chase?"

"Because, to get stronger, you have to train. If you take a shortcut, you can't train, you can't get any stronger. Remember, I have to destroy NTR. That means I have to be strong. That's why." I said without looking at her. I could tell by the way she stayed silent, that I made a point and that it bothered her.

"But why take them on yourself?" she finally said. The sun had started to set, and I could see where the path came out of Mt. Moon.

"Because, everything else has been done, and there really isn't any solid evidence to link them to my parents' death. No one else has had to deal with the pain I've lived with for the last two years. All I know is that my parents were on that boat when it went down. And the evidence I was told about points straight to them. So one way or another, I will bring them down." The sun had gone under the horizon, but neither of us made the first move to set camp.

"Ouch!" I turned around to see what happened to Leta. She was holding her right ankle.

"You alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, clumsy me. I tripped on a root or something." she said as she looked around. Not seeing much, she said, "I guess we can make camp here for the night. Then make Cerulean later, right?"

"Sure, we got a little farther than I expected. So we will definitely make Cerulean tomorrow." I dropped my bag and started to look for some fire wood to start a fire, while Leta sat down and rubbed her ankle. After I had the fire started, I settled down beside Leta. "Your ankle alright? I have some bandage wrap in my bag, if you think that'll help."

"No, I think I just sprained it a little. But thanks anyways." Leta watched the fire grow as I went to get more wood for the night.

When I returned with the wood, I saw her hobbling around trying to get supper ready. Laughing to myself, I couldn't help but think, _Adam would want to be here. _"You know, you should let your ankle rest for a while. Let me do everything. Just sit there and rest your ankle."

"Come on," she started to protest. "I just want to help. You shouldn't have to do everything."

Looking her in the eyes, I simply stated, "Rest." Then continued to cook as she watched me and petted Shadow.

"Stubborn ain't he?" she whispered to Shadow.

"Vee," _Yes.

* * *

_

**Alright, I'm done with this chapter. So, what did ya think? Like, no like, or what? Watch what happens in the next chapter!**


	9. Alone

**I don't own Pokémon, I won't own Pokémon. No, you cannot sue me. Like I said before, I don't own Pokémon. **

" " - talking; _Italics - _thinking

Xxxxxx - break in day or event; Xxxxxxxxxxxx - change of days

Chase - 10 yrs;Leta - 10 yrs; Adam - 13 yrs; Misty - 15 yrs; Gary - 14 yrs; Ash - 14 yrs

"Pss, Chase. Are you awake?" Leta leaned over the boy to see if he was still sleeping.

"I was until you started yelling," I mumbled, rolling out of my bag. I looked up to see a dark sky. "What time is it?"

"It's about 6 o'clock. Why?" Leta asked.

"Because you're usually asleep still. I wake up around this time and no one else is. Why are you up so early?" I asked.

"My ankle woke me up. I was sleeping pretty well, then I must have rolled over and hit something with it. After that, the pain just woke me up," she explained.

"Oh, so chances are, you're going to limp your way into Cerulean, After breakfast, I'll find you a tree limb you can use for a crutch. But let's get cooking, I'm hungry."

Xxxxxx

After eating, we set out to finish our way to Cerulean. It was pretty much uneventful. Nothing to be seen. No Pokémon, no trainers, and luckily, no Neo Team Rocket. Shadow had perched himself on top my head while we walked.

"Look, a few more hills, then we're in Cerulean. Then we'll find you a doctor to help you with your ankle," I said, not realizing how much care I put into it.

"Great, 'cause this is killing …" _SNAP! _Her crutch snapped in two pieces. "Great, and we left the forest behind us an hour ago. Adam's going to laugh his butt off when he sees what happened. What do we do now, Chase?"

"Well, I can try to carry you on my back. Granted you don't break my back, we should make Cerulean by mid afternoon. Or I can try to fix the crutch." I said.

"Fix them. Don't need you to break your back for little ole me!" she taunted.

"That's it! Come here. I'll so you little!" I exclaimed, as I picked her up and started to walk our way to Cerulean. "There, little enough to be carried." _Adam really is going to laugh his butt off._

Xxxxxx

"One more hill, then we're there," Leta said, seeing the city over the next hill.

_Great, I could use the rest now. What was I thinking. Oh yeah. She called herself little. _"Great, then you can meet my s.s. She'll love you, I can just see you two hitting it off. We might have to stay in Cerulean for a while," I said thinking about her ankle.

"So, I'll get to meet your s.s. What does she look like anyways?" She asked.

"Well, first off, she's very tomboyish. And she has a temper to rival a Gyrados. She has orange hair, cerulean blue eyes, and fair skinned. She's probably a foot taller than us. And…" I looked into the sky just in time to see a Pidgeot fly by, "its going to be an interesting visit."

"Why?" Leta asked, missing the Pidgeot, having closed her eyes and slightly dozing.

"Because a friend of hers is showing up."

"You?"

"No, him," I said pointing to the Pidgeot before it went over the hill.

"Who's him?"

"You'll see. Quit asking questions. You'll ruin the surprise."

"Okay," _yawn, _"tell me when we get there." Leta said before falling asleep in my arms.

_Hehe. Isn't this going to look funny. Oh well, maybe she won't see us._ The worst possible thing that could happen was that he would be seen carrying Leta. Then again, he didn't mind it so much. Kind of felt like something was replacing the hole in his soul. _Hell, whatever happens, happens. She can think whatever she wants._

Xxxxxx

"You wont believe who's coming to visit you, Misty?" a brown spiky haired kid said, after entering the Cerulean Gym.

"Who would that be, Gary?" Misty asked, taking a break from her gym duties.

"Your brother," he replied.

"Really, he's coming here?! Wait, it is about time he started his training." Running to the pantry, she had to make sure she had plenty of food fixings. "Shit! Gary, Ash, would you two mind running to the store for me real quick? I need some groceries."

"Sure, but what's the occasion that it's a hurry?" asked Ash, entering from the gym.

"Chase is going to be here! He still owes me a rematch of our last challenge." She said handing the list to the two guys.

"'Kay, be back in a bit," they both said leaving the gym.

"Great," Misty said to herself, "now to see what Chase has done." Misty left the gym and headed to the Poke Center to wait for the eventual arrival of Chase and Leta.

Xxxxxx

"Wake up sleepy head. We're in Cerulean, and almost to the Poke Center." I whispered, trying to gently wake up Leta.

"Huh, we're already here. That wasn't much of a nap at all." Leta stretched her arms and then looked up to Chase.

Chase didn't seem to notice that Leta was slightly blushing, because she just realized how carefully he was carrying her. But Chase was too busy talking to Shadow about Misty to notice her blushing. She looked away just as Chase turned his head toward to look at Leta, hiding her blushing,

"Well, here we are. The Poke Center. Want me to carry you in, or do you want to hobble in?" I asked, kind of hoping for the former.

"I'll hobble in," Leta said in a hurry.

I placed her down on a bench outside of the center to rest and let her get up on her own. "You think Adam will be in there?" I asked.

"He better be. Or else I'll have to hurt him," she said patting her bag.

_Shit, the mallet. He better be in there for his health._ "Alright, let's go and see Nurse Joy," I said offering my hand to help her up.

Taking my hand, Leta quietly said thanks and stood up. Carefully, she took a step and walked through the door. No sooner had I gone though the door, a strawberry landed square on my face. I knew who it was from, before I even got a chance to hear her voice. "Nice to see you again too, Misty."

"How'd you know it was me?" she asked, trying to act innocent.

"Because you hold grudges when you lose. And I know what for." I said removing the berry from my face.

"Uh, excuse me Chase, who's your friend?" Leta asked, looking between the two of us.

"Leta, this is Misty, my strawberry sister. Misty, this is my traveling partner, Leta. Her brother Adam is around here somewhere," I said, introducing the two girls.

After meeting each other, Misty turned her attention to me. "Chase, I challenge you to a battle. The battle is 'Strawberries of Death'."

"I accept, and I will defeat you yet again," I said confident that I would win.

"Uh, Chase, what is 'Strawberries of Death'?" Leta curiously asked.

"Its where you have to eat more strawberry dishes than your opponent. Its also a way to determine who can handle them better. Which I can, since I always ate them when I was younger." I bragged.

"Yeah, but I'm bigger, so that means I can handle more than you," Misty countered.

"So, your calling yourself, fat." I replied.

"Your so getting it tomorrow. High noon, at the Strawberry Hut. Don't be late, or I win by default." Misty said, marching out of the Poke Center.

"I'll be there. Just make sure to not eat anything until then, sis!" I yelled after her. Turning my attention back to Leta, I realized that we hadn't run into Adam yet. "Hey, uh, weren't we suppose to meet with Adam here?"

"Yeah, but he's probably with that girl from yesterday. He'll turn up sooner or later. Now, where do we go to get someone to look at my ankle?" she asked, pointing to her ankle.

"Uh, maybe Nurse Joy can do that." Turning to find Joy, I asked, "Hey Nurse Joy, can you look at her ankle?"

"Sure, come on in." Joy said, pointing to the trainers' room

Leta hobbled into the room and sat on the medical bed in there. After a few minutes, Joy determined that an afternoon with no pressure on the ankle would help it tremendously. "Thanks Nurse Joy," Leta said after getting some real crutches.

"Sure, just rest that ankle, and you'll be fine." Then Joy turned her attention to the next trainer who brought in his Pokémon.

"Hey, there you guys are!" a voice said behind us. Both of us turned around to see Adam walking into the center.

"Where in creation have you been?" asked Leta.

"With Megan. I thought she was alone, but it turns out she has a boyfriend already. So, how'd you hurt your ankle?" Adam asked looking at Leta's ankle, seeing it wrapped up.

"Oh I tripped on a tree root. No big deal." she replied.

_Yeah, and I nearly throw out my back carrying you here, _I thought as Adam started to act like the concerned brother. _Let's see now, Leta will spill in 3, 2, 1._

"And somehow made it here after the branch I had been using for a crutch broke." As she said that, she looked away from both me and Adam.

_Darn, that was good timing. Wait, she didn't mention it! _ I allowed myself to think.

Adam started to laugh queitly.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Nothing much, I'll tell you later," he said.

"Come on, let's get our rooms so we can get some sleep," Leta said, after turning back to us.

Xxxxxx

After unpacking for the night, Adam stretched out on his bed and turned on the TV. A few minutes later, he turned down the volume and asked, "Hey Chase, did you notice how Leta turned away from us earlier?"

"Yeah. What about it?" I asked, not knowing where the conversation was going.

Adam shook his head. "Dude, girls only turn away from guys when they try to hide their expressions. Something tells me that something happened while I was gone. So tell me, what happened for real."

"Nothing happened. She tripped on a root. We rested for the night. In the morning, I found her a tree branch to use as a crutch. When it broke, I carried her here. So nothing happened. Honest," I explained.

"If that's it, then I think she has a crush on you," Adam concluded.

I was shocked at what he said. _She, likes me? How? She's only known me for a while. How?_

Sensing that I was trying to work things out, I heard Adam speak. "Dude, girls are weird that way. That's why she turned away from us. She's afraid to admit it yet. Then again, I could be wrong about the whole idea."

"I hope your right, about being wrong that is. I don't want her to get the wrong idea about me. I have a mission to do, and I can't let anything get in my way of completing that mission." I rolled over onto my bed to try to fall asleep. _But what if he's right? What am I going to do if he is right about Leta?_ I tried to think about my revenge on NTR, but I kept thinking about Adam had just said. While thinking, I fell asleep, forgetting about the contestand my revenge, and worrying about our friendship.

Xxxxxx

"Busch, Miller, and Mic. You three need to get to Vermillion and secure our last post there. After that, NTR will no longer be a part in Kanto," Father ordered.

"And if you have to stay behind to complete your other mission, so be it," finished Mother.

"Yes Father, Mother." All three NTR thugs answered.

After terminating their transmission, Father spoke up. "We can't let our son figure out what really happened."

Considering the circumstances, Mother answered, "If we have to, we'll capture him and convert him to our side. That is if he finds out who we really are, or if he finds out what really happened to us."

"Agreed. Then we must make sure to have someone else in the field to protect our identities." Father added.

"And I know just the person," said Mother, pressing a button on her computer. The screen showed the NTR members that were left in the Kanto region. "She should do." She said selecting the undercover agent.

Father looked at the screen. Smiling, he said, "Son, I'd like to introduce you to Megan."

**What? Megan is with NTR? Anyone surprised? Stay tuned for the next episode! Oh, and send all your comments to the review box. Love you guys!**


	10. Strawberries of Death

**I don't own Pokémon, I won't own Pokémon. No, you cannot sue me. Like I said before, I don't own Pokémon. **

" " - talking; _Italics - _thinking

Xxxxxx - break in day or event; Xxxxxxxxxxxx - change of days

Chase - 10 yrs;Leta - 10 yrs; Adam - 13 yrs; Misty - 15 yrs; Gary - 14 yrs; Ash - 14 yrs; Megan - 12

"All right, its nearly noon. Where is he?" Misty asked.

"Oh, he'll be here. Something tells me that he won't let you win by default." Gary said.

"Nah. I think he wants to do this just as badly as you do, Misty," said Ash.

"Well, he has five more minutes to get here. Or else," finished Misty.

Xxxxxx

"Come on. Your going to make me late. I only got four more minutes to get to the hut." I couldn't believe that Leta and Adam had wasted the entire morning about something that they couldn't let me in on. And worse yet, they wouldn't let me leave without them. _Hmm, I wonder if that window is locked._ I walked over to see that the window couldn't even be opened and so I sat beside the door, waiting for my captures to come and release me.

"Aright, we're ready to get going!" yelled Adam, as he unlocked to door. As soon as he swung the door open, I dashed out, followed by Shadow.

"Geez, what took you guys so long?!" I yelled as I ran out of the hotel, with Shadow beside me, and on my way to the hut.

"We were talking," answered Leta, running beside me on my right. Adam was on my other side.

"About?" I asked.

"Sibling stuff," replied Adam.

Glancing to Adam, I asked, "About last night?"

"You could say, plus a few other things. But let's get to the hut before noon," answered Adam.

Xxxxxx

"Well," sighed Misty, "he's got less than a minute left. I thought for sure he would have been here by now."

Gary started to final countdown. "In five, four, three, two, one…"

"Wait! I'm here!" I yelled, as I got to the hut, just in the nick of time. I collapsed on the floor, trying to catch my breathe. "See," _pant_, "I told you," _pant_, "I'd be here."

"And just in time too. I thought you were going to let me win by default, Chasey." teased Misty.

_I hate that name!_ "THE NAMES NOT CHASEY! Let's just get the contest going, shall we, _Missy_?"

"Missy? Step up to the bar, boy. I bet you can't eat more than ten plates of strawberries." Misty had taken a stool at the bar, and the waiter brought over several plates of strawberries. "The game, Strawberries of Death. The object of the game is to eat the most strawberries in five minutes." Misty explained.

"Yeah, yeah. Just give me my half of the pile and let's get eating." I said, grabbing my stool at the bar.

Gary pulled out his stopwatch. "All right, five minutes to eat. Starting, now!" he said as he started to stopwatch. As he clicked the watch, me and Misty dove into the plates that the waiter had sat down on the bar.

"Who do you think is going to win?" Leta asked.

"Don't know, honestly," answered Adam.

"Last time, Chase ate the most," Gary said.

"Yeah but that was because Misty got a stomach cramp. This time, she won't get one." Ash said. "Right Misty?" Misty nodded her head, stuffing her face with strawberries.

Xxxxxx

Looking at his watch, Gary said, "With one minute to go, both Chase and Misty are starting on their tenth plate at the same time. This might be a tie."

"I bet not," replied Ash.

"Come on Chase. You can do it," encouraged Leta.

Before Adam could say anything, he looked out the window, and something caught his eye. Whispering to Leta, he said, "Hey, I'll be right back." With that, he walked out of the hut to see what had caught his eye. "Hey," he said to the person he saw, "didn't think I'd see you again."

Xxxxxx

"With ten seconds to go, it comes down to the wire. Chase and Misty are in a tie for Strawberry eating champ." Gary announced. Chase and Misty were constantly checking to see who had more strawberries on their plate. Chase stole a glance to see Leta, and didn't see Adam with her. While stuffing another strawberry in his mouth, Chase glanced to the door. At that precise moment, Adam came walking in with a girl. Instead of swallowing the strawberry completely, the strawberry got caught in his throat, and he started to choke.

"Times up!" announced Gary, not noticing Chase's situation.

"Great job Cha…" Misty started. She turned to see Chase trying to dislodge a strawberry from his throat. "Chase, Oh my gosh! He's choking!" Gary and Ash looked to Chase, seeing that he was choking, and so did Adam. Gary got behind Chase and tried to do the Heimlich maneuver. After a few tries, the strawberry flew out of Chase's mouth and landed on the ground.

"Now, why go and choke on a berry like that?" asked Gary.

Catching my breathe, I looked to Adam. "Because, someone walks out on me and brings in a person that we met a couple of days ago. Want to do the honors Adam?"

"Sure, why not. Everyone, this is Megan." Adam said.

"Hi everyone. What was going on here before I came in?" Megan asked.

"Oh, I just became the Strawberry Eating Champ. That's all. Oh my name is Misty. I'm the gym leader here." said Misty.

"I'm Ash, Pokémon master from Pallet Town." said Ash.

"And I'm Gary Oak. Grandson of Prof Oak. And gym leader of Viridian. Also of Pallet Town." finished Gary.

"Wow. Great friends you have Adam," Megan said, and Adam blushed slightly.

"Now that I'm the SEC, I declare an all girls trip to the mall. Come on Megan and Leta. Let's get out of here," Misty said, collecting her bag and walking out.

"All right, see you boys later," Megan said over her shoulders.

"Bye Chase," Leta said.

"What, no bye for me sis?" Adam asked, let down.

"You know I also meant you," Leta replied. Then the girls left the hut and went towards the mall.

"Whew, that was fun. So what do we do for the afternoon?" asked Ash.

"Go back to the gym and finish those chores for Misty," said Gary.

"Trying to impress her again, eh Gary?" I asked.

"Why not? She knows that I have feelings for her." Gary replied.

"Yeah, me too," Ash stepped in.

"Bet I can finish more than you, Ashy boy." Gary taunted.

"Bet you can't." countered Ash.

"Then let's do it." and Gary ran out to the gym, followed closely behind by Ash.

"Well, now it's just us two Adam. What do you want to do?" I asked.

"I'm going back to the hotel, and take a nap. I'll catch you later." and then Adam got up and left to hut.

"Just me and my Pokémon," I looked down to Shadow. He was sniffing at the bar, trying to get a berry to eat. "Hey waiter, you got any extra strawberries back there?"

"Yeah, how many do you need?" the waiter asked.

"Six plates please," I answered. The waiter got six plates together, and I sat them on the floor. I released my other Eevees. Sparks, Blaze, Aquis, and the other two Eevees. All of them sniffed at the berries. Before long, they were eating the berries like they hadn't eaten anything lately. "Alright, after this, we go and train in the outskirts of the city. Maybe we can find a trainer to battle against."

Xxxxxx

At the mall, the girls were trying to figure out which store to go into first. Before they made their choice, Leta saw a fortune teller stand. "Hey, why not get our fortunes?" she asked, pointing to the stand.

"Okay, I'm kind of curious about a few things," Misty said.

"Yeah, me too," copied Megan.

Standing at the fortune booth, the girls waited for the teller to come out. After ringing the bell, and old woman came out of the booth and looked at the girls. "Hmm, come to get your fortunes, have you?"

"Yes ma'am," answered Leta.

"Alright, come in and sit around the table," the old woman instructed. After the girls took their seats around the table, the old woman pulled out her crystal ball. "Who's first?" she asked, glancing between the girls.

"I'll go first," said Megan.

Closing her eyes, the woman started to chant, then took a look into her ball. "I see you help someone find something that was once lost, something that caused much pain when it was lost. And in doing so, you risk your own life."

"Alright, my turn," said Misty.

"I see two young men, constantly fighting for you. I see one going off to do something, but then is captured. The other one tries desperately to save the other, but fails. He too is captured, leaving you alone and unsure of what ever happened to them."

"Finally, my turn," Leta said, getting anxious about the telling, but not liking how the two previous tellings went.

"I see, oh my. I see a young man that wants to be with you for all time. But something happens that causes him to run off and, oh no."

"What, what happens?" Leta asked, getting slightly worried.

"He turns into a force that cannot be stopped. Something within him, and something outside of him, that merges with him, causes this change."

"Who is this man?" Leta asked.

"It is unclear. From the beginning, all I see is a shadow. After the change, he grows darker. My advice, is to avoid getting close to anyone who has a dark past that might turn him." With that, the woman picked up her ball, and returned it to the chest she got it out of. "This telling session is free of charge. I hope you three find a way to change your destiny. You make it, you can change it." Then the woman disappeared into the back of her booth.

"That was weird. I wonder what it all means." Leta said quietly, trying to make sense of the telling.

"All of a sudden, I don't feel like shopping," said Misty.

"Yeah, I feel the same way," Megan said, feeling the same on both of what Leta and Misty had just said.

Xxxxxx

Looking around the outskirts, Chase saw some trainers. Most of them were in battles already, so Chase didn't bother them. He just watched and saw how some other trainers battled. While watching a particularly interesting battle, an teen boy came up to Chase and challenged him. Looking at the boy, Chase said, "Alright, let's do it."

"Great, then I will use Sandslash," said the teen.

"A Sandslash, eh? Aquis, time to battle!" Chase yelled, releasing his Vaporeon.

"Sandy, use scratch." "Aquis, use water gun." Just as the Sandslash was getting close enough to scratch Aquis, Aquis sprayed the Sandslash and caused it to miss.

"Good job, Aquis. Use tackle." "Sandy, use your tackle also." Both Pokémon ran towards one another and hit head on. Aquis recoiled just a little, but the Sandslash fell to the ground, and slowly got back up.

"Sandy, return. Lightning, go!" the teen released a Pikachu.

"Use thundershock!" "Aquis, dodge it." However, the thundershock hit with incredible accuracy, causing Aquis to faint.

"Good job, Aquis. Let's go thunder vs. thunder. Sparks, your up!" Chase said, releasing his Jolteon.

"Lightning, use tackle." "Sparks, tackle too." Both Pokémon ran towards one another and hit head on. But both Pokémon recovered like nothing happened.

"Lightning, use thundershock!" "Sparks, tackle again!" The Pikachu fired its attack, but missed as the Jolteon dodged at the last second and charged for the Pikachu. Sparks landed a solid hit on the Pikachu, and it had a hard time getting back up. Sensing this, the teen recalled his Pikachu and called the match.

"Great match, kid. Maybe we'll get a chance to finish our battle." With that, the teen disappeared.

"I wonder what that was about," Chase said looking to Sparks and Shadow. "Oh well, its getting dark out. Let's get back to the hotel before everyone freaks out."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**So, do you like it? How should the battle with Misty go? A team battle with two of Misty's Pokémon against one of Chase's and one of Leta's. Or should they have their own battles? Tell me what you think, and I'll try to get it done right.**

**Oh, I know there are more Eevee forms from D and P. Those will come into play later in the series. If you haven't noted it, the only way to get them is to level them up in front of a rock in the game. So, that's why they are coming in later.**


	11. Battle on the Water

**I don't own Pokémon, I won't own Pokémon. No, you cannot sue me. Like I said before, I don't own Pokémon. **

" " - talking; _Italics - _thinking

Xxxxxx - break in day or event; Xxxxxxxxxxxx - change of days

Chase - 10 yrs;Leta - 10 yrs; Adam - 13 yrs; Misty - 15 yrs; Gary - 14 yrs; Ash - 14 yrs; Megan - 12

Waking up before Adam, I decided to go for a quick walk. Getting dressed, I heard Shadow roll over and wake up. "Vee?" _Walk?_

Whispering, I said, "Yeah, now come on." Shadow hopped off the bed and quickly walked over to the door and went out with me, Closing the door behind me, I heard another door open.

"Where do you think your going so early?" asked a girl's voice. Not having to turn around, I knew who it was.

"My morning walk, why?" I ask.

"But it's only five in the morning, and the sun won't rise for another two hours," answered Leta.

"Its what I do ever morning. I walk every morning to help stretch myself out," I replied. _And it seems to be the only time I get that doesn't have a question every ten minutes._

"I'll come with you then," Leta said, closing her door.

"No thanks," I said, turning to face her. "I'm going out to do some training on my own. I'll be back by noon." I then turned and left her in the hall. "By the way, our door is unlocked. Keep an eye on Adam, I have a feeling he might want to do something later with her." And then I turned a corner and was out of Leta's sight.

"You ready Shadow? This is the day we challenge Misty." I said excitedly.

"Vee!" Yes!

Xxxxxx

Approaching the gym doors, I grew more excited with each step. "Alright Misty, prepare for the butt whooping you are about to receive."

"That is," a girl's voice said from behind, "YOU prepare for the butt whooping you are about to receive." I turned around to see that Misty had snuck up on me.

"Geez girl, I thought you'd still be asleep. I was going to surprise you." I said after getting over the shock of being surprised myself.

"Thought you'd do something like that after your lost yesterday. So I planned on waking up earlier just in case you did. So, are you ready, Chasey?" Misty asked.

"Yeah, let the whooping commence!" I said, punching the air in her direction.

Xxxxxx

"This is a two on two battle for a Cerulean City Cascade Gym Badge. I, Ariel, will referee this battle between Misty of the Cerulean Gym, and Chase of Pallet Town. Trainers, select your Pokémon, and Begin!" the referee started the battle.

"Alright Shadow, let's do this!" and Shadow jumped onto one of the floats in the gym's pool.

"Staryu, come on out!" and a star shaped Pokémon took to the water.

"Round one in Shadow versus Staryu, BEGIN!"

"Shadow, shadow ball." "Staryu, water gun." Shadow shot a black ball of energy towards Staryu, but it dodged the attack by going under water. Resurfacing in front of Shadow, Staryu let out a water gun attack at point blank range, blasting Shadow with water, and forcing him out of the pool.

"Come on Shadow, get back in there and use tackle." "Staryu, use swift." Shadow tried jumping towards Staryu, but it went under water again, causing Shadow to miss. Staryu reappeared right in front of Shadow again, hitting it point blank range again with its swift attack.

"We have to try something new here. Shadow, fire a small shadow ball, then charge a second." "Staryu, water gun again." Shadow fired a black ball, and Staryu ducked into the water. But this time, when Staryu reappeared in front of Shadow, he had a another black ball waiting for the Staryu. "FIRE NOW!" This time, the black ball hit on target and blasted it out of the pool and onto the wall of the gym. Staryu couldn't recover.

"Staryu is out. Round one to Chase," Ariel announced.

"Alright," Misty said as she recalled Staryu, and then summoned, "Starmie, your turn!"

"Round two will be Shadow versus Starmie,"

"Think you can go another round Shadow?" I asked Shadow. Panting heavily, it nodded its head, signifying that it could make another run. "Great, then let round two begin."

"That trick won't work a second time Chase, just try it again," Misty warned.

"Shadow, tackle." "Starmie, water pulse." As Shadow went to tackle Starmie, Starmie let a huge water gun attack out towards Shadow. The pulse launched Shadow out of the pool and help him against the wall of the gym for a few seconds before dying down.

Unable to get back on its feet, and stay on them, Shadow fell backed down and stayed down. "Shadow is unable to continue, Starmie wins," Ariel announced.

"Rest for a bit, Shadow. Now, my ultimate attack for you Misty. Sparks, let's play!" I said, releasing a Jolteon.

"Jolt Jolt!" Let's go!

"The third round will be Sparks versus Starmie. Begin!"

"Starmie, water pulse." "Sparks, dodge and use quick attack." Starmie tries to hit Sparks with the same attack it used on Shadow, but Sparks blurred at the last second and rushed into Starmie, hitting it out of the pool. But Starmie recovered and jumped back into the battle.

"Sparks, use quick attack again." "Starmie, use swift." Sparks blurred again and rushed into Starmie. But before Sparks could land an attack, Starmie shot out hundreds of stars, each blasting Sparks. Sparks landed outside of the pool, and shook off the attack.

"Enough playing. Starmie, water pulse again." "Sparks, no more playing either. Go all out with thundershock!" Sparks launched a shocking attack, one that seemed to go even faster once it hit the water from the water pulse attack. The pulse knocked both Pokémon out of the pool and against the wall.

"Get up Sparks!" "Starmie, get back into the fight!" Slowly, Sparks got his feet beneath him and got back to the side of the pool. Starmie started to recover, but fell back over, with its gem blinking.

"Round three goes to Chase and Sparks. I declare Chase the winner of this match. Great, now I get to go back to bed. Wake me up later, kay Misty?" Ariel then walked out of the gym and into her room, where a loud crash was heard.

"Don't worry 'bout her. She landed on her bed. Alright, you won. Here's your badge," Misty said, a little disappointed.

"Aw come on. You know you like handed these out. Thanks for the wonderful battle sis." I took the badge from Misty, and placed it with the Boulder Badge in my bag. "Now you know, Leta will be coming later to battle you."

"Figured your girlfriend would. Why didn't you bring her with you?" asked Misty.

"She ain't my girlfriend. You know that I have plenty to do before I have any time to be like that. And I didn't bring her because I thought it would benefit her if she didn't see our battle. I'll see you later sis!" I said as I walked out of the gym. "Now, to get back to the center and heal you guys up." I said to Shadow and Sparks.

Xxxxxx

Waking up Adam, Leta was thinking, _Man, he sure does sleep harder than me sometimes. Wonder what time he got back in after spending the evening with Megan._ Not seeing any progress, Leta called out Pikachu, and had it use thundershock on him.

"AHHH!" Falling to the floor, Adam looked over to see Leta laughing and trying to run out of the room. "I'm going to get you for that!"

"Think of it as payback for getting me soak that morning," Leta yelled as she left the boys' room.

Xxxxxx

Eating breakfast a little bit later, both Adam and Leta were talking about things to do that day. "Yeah, the biggest thing I want to do later is to challenge Misty for another badge. But I wonder why Chase ain't back yet. He's been gone for like three hours now." Looking at her watch, see saw that it was eight, and Chase had left at five.

"Oh yeah, I forgot something," Adam said quietly.

"What?" asked Leta.

"He went to challenge Misty this morning," Adam said while looking out the window of the restaurant. _Speak of the Pokémon, _"There he is."

"Where?" said an irate Leta. She turned her head to see Chase enter the restaurant. After he got to their table, Chase noticed an icy glare from Leta.

"Uh, what did I do?" I asked.

"You, you went and challenged her. I thought we were going to do it as a team again," Leta continued her glare.

"Well, I thought it'd be better this way," I started to explain.

"How would it be better this way?" she asked.

"To see how you handle a big battle by yourself. We'll be there to encourage you. But I won't be there for you to help finish your battle," I finished. And before she could finish, I got back up and went to the food bar to get some breakfast. By the time I got back to the table, both Leta and Adam were gone. "Now what?" I sat down and started to eat breakfast.

Finishing up with breakfast, I went to go pay my bill. As I was paying, the waiter handed me a napkin. "A girl said to give you this when you done, sir."

"Thank you, I think." I took the napkin and opened it up. Inside was a quick note.

_If you can do it yourself, then I don't need you there. Leta._

Laughing softly, I could only think, _Is she smart enough to use her types to her advantage_. _She could win easily since she has a Butterfree and a Pikachu, both are good against her. If that's what she wants, fine. I'll let her loose. _I went back to the hotel to start planning our trip to Vermillion.

_Vermillion, that is where I find the truth. The truth to my parents' disappearance._ I couldn't wait to get there. _Watch out NTR, I'm coming for you guys._

Xxxxxx

"Well, congratulations on winning, Leta. You've earned this badge," Misty said as she handed Leta her badge. "By the way, where's Chasey?"

"Thanks Misty. And Chase, I don't know where he is," Leta said.

"I thought that he would have been here to encourage you," Misty said.

"Yeah, that's what his plan was. But I didn't think what he did this morning was right. He lied to me. Said he was going to do some training. But he came here to challenge you instead." explained Leta.

"Oh, I see. So he lied to you. Figures." Misty said as she rolled hr eyes.

"Wait, what do you mean figures?" asked Leta.

"He still doesn't feel like he can trust many people. Except those close to him. That's probably why he lied to you this morning," said Misty.

"We've been traveling together for a while. He doesn't think we're close?" Leta asked, tilting her head downward.

"Come on Leta. We only met him not that long ago. And besides, you know trust is something built over time, not instantly." Adam said.

"But after what happened the other day, how he carried me here. I thought there might have been something else." Leta said, with her head still down.

"I think I see what's going on. I think you have a crush." Misty said happily.

Looking up quickly, Leta couldn't believe what Misty had said. But for some reason, it felt right. Sighing softly, she said, "Not just a crush. I know that I like him. But how do I…"

"You just have to wait until he's ready. He has a lot of things on his mind right now. And, your next stop is probably going to be Vermillion, the city where his parents' ship left port. He's probably going to be asking a lot of questions there. But after he finds what he's after, you might have a chance later," Misty said. "Until then, don't let any girl take him away from you."

"Thanks Misty," Leta said. "I think we should get back to the hotel, and see what Chase is planning." Leta said to Adam.

"Okay, but I hope we get to the spend one more night here. I want to see Megan again," Adam said, with a weird look in his eye.

"And I think your brother is also under a crush," Misty joked with Leta.

"Yeah, and he only met her a few days ago," Leta said giggling.

"Hey, get Chasey to come out to the fairgrounds tonight. There's going to be a movie projected out there. I think a movie would be a good way for you to get _closer_ to Chase." Misty said.

"Great idea. What time?" asked Leta.

"About, seven thirty. The sun will be down by then, and perfect to view a movie. And of course I'll bring one of the guys with me." Misty said, trying to decide between Ash and Gary. "Well, see you two later!"

"Bye Misty," Adam said.

"Bye," Leta said.

Xxxxxx

"Come on Chase, let's go out and see a movie," Leta pleaded with me. I just didn't feel like going to see a movie.

"Rain check? Don't feel like it tonight," I said, still planning the trip to Vermillion.

"Geez Chase. Give up on work for an evening. Enjoy yourself." Not seeing a reaction she favored from me, she decided to do something a little more drastic. "Get up, _Chasey_."

"What, did, you, call, me?" I said slowly.

"Chasey. And if you don't want me to say it again, you'll come with me to the movie." Leta declared.

Sighing in defeat, I asked, "What's showing?"

"Don't know. Misty invited us. She's going to be there too." Leta answered.

_Great. Is this part of Misty's plan._ "Okay, let's go."

"Yeah!" Leta squealed, as she grabbed my arm and practically hauled me to the fairgrounds.

Xxxxxx

Getting to the fairgrounds, I saw Leta look around nervously. Seeing Misty, Leta walked up to her. "Uh, Misty. Where's the movie going to be shown?"

"Oh, I kind of lied about a movie. It's more of watching a meteor shower," Misty said, pointing up to the sky.

"Oh." Then Leta saw Adam show up, with Megan. "Hi Megan, and Adam."

"Hi guys." Megan replied. Then the girls broke of and spoke to each other quietly.

"So, heard that you beat Misty earlier," Gary said.

"Yeah, wasn't too hard." I replied.

"I won't be that easy. In fact, most trainers can't beat me." Gary boasted.

"We'll see." I said.

"I wonder what girls talk about when they get together like this," Adam said, looking to both me and Gary.

"Heck if I know. I don't even know why Leta dragged me out here tonight. All I know is that she blackmailed me into it." I said, remembering earlier events.

"Usually, they compare us behind our backs. Then they get these weird ideas. Shh, their coming back." Gary said as he saw the girls come back.

"Not much longer until the shower starts," Misty said, stepping closer to Gary.

"Great, then let's watch the show," I said, laying down on the ground. Misty and Gary sat down together on a nearby rock. Adam and Megan leaned up against a fence. And Leta, she sat down beside me and watched the sky. Then the shower started. It was the brightest thing in the night sky any of us had seen. _I guess this wasn't so bad._ I looked over to see Gary and Misty softly kissing. Then glanced over to see Adam and Megan hugging warmly. Finally, saw Leta. As I turned back to the sky, I smile and said, "Beautiful." Then I felt Leta's hand fall onto mine.

**There you go. This chapter is finished. How'd you like it? Tell me, pwease!**


	12. Onto Vermillion

**I don't own Pokémon, I won't own Pokémon. No, you cannot sue me. Like I said before, I don't own Pokémon. **

" " - talking; _Italics - _thinking

Xxxxxx - break in day or event; Xxxxxxxxxxxx - change of days

Chase - 10 yrs;Leta - 10 yrs; Adam - 13 yrs; Misty - 15 yrs; Gary - 14 yrs; Ash - 14 yrs; Megan - 12

Continuing on our journey, Leta, Adam and I were almost out of the city when we heard a girl's voice. We stopped and turned to see who it was. "Wait up you guys!" Megan was running up to us in a hurry.

Catching up, she stopped a few feet away from us. "Would you guys mind if I tagged along?" she asked, looking to Adam.

"No, you can tag along," replied Adam.

"What about her _boyfriend_, Adam?" I asked.

"Oh, I caught him with another girl. So I don't want to be anywhere near him. I think getting out of Cerulean would be a good way to forget him." Megan said.

"Okay, let's get going!" exclaimed Leta.

Xxxxxx

"So what do you think he'll find in Vermillion?" Gary asked Misty.

"The truth to parents' disappearance. But chances are, that afterwards, Chase will hunt Neo Team Rocket down and destroy them. Then he'll be able to live a normal life," Misty said, while eating breakfast.

"Well," Gary said, "he better get focused on what's in front of him before he pushes it away. 'Cause I've never seen any girl want to stay with Chase as long as she has. That Leta, maybe she'll be the one for him."

"With any luck, he'll succeed," said Ash, walking into the kitchen.

"Wake up late again, Ashy-boy," poked Gary.

"Oh yeah, your mother called. Wanting to know when your coming back home to help around the house," said Misty.

"I'll call her later and tell her in a few days. After I help you clean up the gym a little more." replied Ash.

"Well, got to get going. Viridian gym is open for the next three days." Gary got up, and walked out the door, heading for Viridian.

"Here's the chore list, Ash. Get them done so I can go to the store," Misty said as she left for the store.

Xxxxxx

Clinging to Adam, Megan pretended to be interested in Adam. But while they walked, Megan kept thinking about what Mother and Father had said.

_"Keep him away from the building. And do not let him find out our identities." Mother said._

_"And if he does, you will be punished." finished Father._

_Great, from what I understand from Adam, this Chase kid has a deal to settle with NTR. I have to make sure I protect both him and Mother and Father. _Thinking about her mission. She had missed what Adam had asked her.

"Spaced out, huh?" Adam asked.

"You could say that. It's just so pretty out here. Outside of the city." Megan answered.

"Hey, look!" Leta shouted. "There's a lake over there." Leta pointed to a lake that was visible from the path. "Let's stop here for lunch. Then continue, kay?" she asked, looking to me.

"Okay, I'm getting hungry anyways," I said.

"And while we're resting, I can try this fishing pole that Misty gave to me last night," Leta said, pulling out a pole from her bag.

Xxxxxx

"HEY! I got a bite! Your not getting away from me!" Leta was pulling against the rod with everything she had.

"Come on Leta, you can pull it out!" Adam said, watching his sister fight whatever it was.

"Pull it out!" I yelled, getting excited that something was happening.

Leta gave it a final pull, and a Horsea came flying out of the water. "Horsea!"

"Ahh, it so cute. I'm going to catch it!" Leta exclaimed, pulling out a pokéball. "Go, Pikachu!" Leta threw the pokéball, and the yellow mouse appeared.

"Pika!"

"Pikachu, tackle!" Pikachu ran straight for the wild Horsea. Once it got close, the Horsea filled the air with a dark smokescreen. Unable to see, the Pikachu couldn't hit its intended target.

"Horsea, Horsea" The Pikachu ran out of the cloud, right into the Horsea. As soon as the Horsea saw Pikachu, it fired several bubbles in Pikachu's direction. Each one hit and exploded on Pikachu.

"Get up Pikachu, and use quick attack!" This time, with blurring speed, Pikachu ran for Horsea again and connected with a solid tackle.

"Hor, Sea." The wild Horsea was staggering, trying to recover.

"Your mine," Leta said, as she threw an empty pokéball. The ball pulled the Horsea in with a red light. Shaking a few seconds, the ball finally dinged. "YAY! I caught another Pokémon! By the way, what does a Horsea evolve into?" She asked all of us.

All of us fell on our heads, anime style, due to the question. Recovering, Adam decided to answer. "A Horsea evolves into a Seadra. Which then evolves into a Kingdra, a water dragon."

"Really, a water dragon?" she asked, looking to me.

"What, don't believe your brother? What does he have to loose lying to you?" Leta continued to look at me, waiting for an answer to her question. "Yes, he's right. It will eventually evolve into a Kingdra. But it has to be traded with a Dragon Scale as a Seadra."

"Yes, I'm going to have a water and fire dragon! YAY!" Leta jumped up and down, overjoyed.

"Now that the entertainment is over, let's finish with lunch, and continue," Megan said.

"Yeah, I agree," Adam seconded.

Xxxxxx

"So, Chase. What is your plan once we get to Vermillion?" Leta asked. Night had come, and we had stopped for the night to sleep.

Starring up into the night sky, I was wondering the same thing myself. "Probably go to the Vermillion Police, and request the files on the S.S. Relaxation incident. Then look threw the file. And then find where NTR is hiding." I quit right there, not quite sure what I'd do if I ever found them.

"They're not going to let you just walk up in there and demand to see the files," Megan said. "I had a friend who's parents went down with the ship. They wouldn't let him see the files. His parents' bodies were recovered soon after the sinking. They did make a comment about them being in a room that wasn't mark 'NTR' on the window though."

"My parents' bodies weren't recovered," I said coldly. "At least, not since the last time I asked. So they better let me see the dang file."

_And they're not going to recover their bodies, because they're still alive._ "Well, I just hope you don't get to disappointed when they won't show you the file." And with that, Megan went off to sleep in her sleeping bag.

"I think I'll go to sleep also," Adam said, getting up from the fire, and went to his sleeping bag.

Speaking as lowly as I could, I mumbled, "Oh they'll show me the file. Even if I have to steal it." As I said, a dark expression crawled across my face.

"What was that Chase?" Leta asked, hearing me mumble, but not what.

"Nothing. Why don't you go to sleep. We can reach Vermillion tomorrow."

"Okay, goodnight Chase," Leta said. Not hearing me respond, she sighed, got up, then walked over to her bag.

"Shadow, I'm starting to get a bad feeling. Maybe something else happened that I haven't thought of." Staring up to the stars, I saw one shine directly above us. Then it disappeared. "Wonder what happened." Then I went to sleep, like the others.

Xxxxxx

"Mother, Father. We will be ready to leave this post in the next week. We are almost done securing this station." Busch reported.

"Good job. Megan has teamed up with the group with our son. She should keep them away from that building. Get out of there once you are done." Mother said.

"And don't make contact with Megan either. If they even hint she's with us, our cover will be blown. And you three will wish you were in jail after we get done with you." Father threatened.

"Yes sir, I understand." Then the transmission was terminated. "Hear that boys? Things are going as planned. Soon, we'll be more than just grunts. We'll be agents." Busch said.

"Finally! We've been grunts far too long." Miller replied.

"And that means more power and money," added Mic.

"Let's finish this project. Then get out here," Busch said, getting back to work.

Xxxxxx

"I sense a lot of pain and anger in this one. He should be a perfect host to help me get even with the person who killed me," a shadow said, as it floated above the four kids. "Just have to wait for the right moment, which shouldn't be long now."

Xxxxxx

Waking up, I felt something strange. It felt like we were being watched by something. _Ah, what am I thinking? We're in the forest. There's Pokémon everywhere that could watch us. But then why haven't I felt like this before._ Getting up, the feeling stayed the same. "Wake up Shadow. Time for breakfast." With that, Shadow jumped up and stood by me. "First, we need firewood." Then I went out to collect some firewood while the sun had yet to rise.

Xxxxxx

Returning from collecting firewood, I placed the wood in the same place as where the fire was the night before, As I was preparing to light the fire, I heard mumbling. I looked up and saw Leta tossing in her bag.

"No Chase. You can't go." Leta said as she tossed in her bag. Figuring it was a dream, I let her continue. That was, until she started screaming.

"CHASE! YOU CAN'T DO THAT! NOOO!" That was when I decided it was time to wake her before she woke the others.

Walking over to her bag, I got on my knees and gently rocked her, trying to wake her. She kept screaming, and it was worse than ever. Getting tired of this, I decided to shake her until she woke. But nothing happened. _Dang, she's deep._ "Aquis, water gun," I said as I called out my Vaporeon. As soon as it was out, Aquis sprayed Leta with water.

Finally waking up, Leta sat straight up and looked around, confused and embarrassed, and wet. Looking to me, she asked, "Did I wake you?"

"No, I was already awake. I had just gathered some firewood to start on breakfast. Then you started talking in your sleep. Then screaming. So I figured I'd wake you before something bad happened. So, what happened?" I asked.

"Honestly, I don't understand. I saw you walk away from us. Then you turned on us. But there was something different. A shadow seemed to be glowing from you. Do you understand?" Leta asked.

Thinking about it, I couldn't think of anything. "No, that doesn't make sense to me. One, I'd never just walk away, unless I had a good reason. And you're my friends, so I could never go against you. So I don't know what you dreamt." It was weird. It was enough to make me forget about breakfast.

Sensing that I was forgetting something, Leta asked, "So what's for breakfast, cook?"

Snapping back, I asked, "Breakfast? Oh, yeah! How's oatmeal?"

"Fine with me." Then looking over to Megan and Adam, Leta commented, "They didn't wake up through my screaming?"

"Guess not. But then again, look how close they got together," I pointed. Adam and Megan had wrapped their arms around each other. "Haha! That's funny!"

"I think its cute," Leta sighed.

"Well, while we're waiting on the fire, why don't you tell me how your battle with Misty went." I said.

"Oh that. That was a tougher battle than I thought it would be. But I won," Leta said.

Xxxxxx

_"Come on out, Butterfree!" Leta said as Butterfree came out of its pokéball._

_"Staryu, another challenger is here to battle!" Misty said as the star Pokémon came out._

_"Butterfree, use sleep powder!" "Staryu, go underwater." Butterfree started to flap its wings faster and sent a powder all over the pool. Before the powder reached Staryu, it jumped into the water and was protected by the water's surface._

_"Staryu, swift!" "Butterfree, use confusion." Mini stars came out of the bottom of the pool and stuck Butterfree. As each star landed on Butterfree, it exploded. After the smoke cleared, Butterfree focused on the underwater target, and struck it with its psychic attack. Staryu floated to the surface, unable to battle._

_"Good job Staryu. Starmie, time to finish the fight." Misty said, as a bigger form of Staryu appeared._

_"Butterfree, use tackle." "Starmie, use swift." Butterfree rushed in to tackle the star Pokémon. But before making contact, Starmie launched mini exploding stars into Butterfree. Butterfree fainted from the explosions._

_Recalling Butterfree, Leta chose her next Pokémon. "Best bet for water is electricity. Pikachu, your up!" And an electric mouse appeared out of its ball._

_"Starmie, use water gun." "Pikachu, quick attack" Starmie fired its water attack, but the Pikachu blurred and avoided the water. It rushed into Starmie, and launched it out of the pool._

_"Get back in there with a rapid spin, Starmie." "Use tackle, Pikachu." Starmie flew into Pikachu's tackle attack. The Pokémon collided and the force of the attack sent them to the opposite sides of the pool._

_"Swift attack, again." "Thundershock" _

_Xxxxxx_

"That's pretty much how I won," Leta said as she finished her story.

"So how's Charmander doing?" I asked, not having seen him for a while.

Almost as if one queue, Charmander popped out of hi pokéball. "Char." He had a weird look on his face.

"What's his problem?" I asked.

"He's probably upset that I haven't used him lately. I think anyways." Leta then pulled out Charmander's pokéball and recalled him. "Don't worry, I'll use you when I can."

As the sun started to rise over the horizon, Leta looked over to Adam and Megan, still sleeping. "Should we wake them up?" she asked.

"If you mean ourselves, sure. If you mean by Pokémon, then count me in," I said grinning, as I grabbed Sparks pokéball. Sensing who I was going to use, Leta reached for Pikachu's pokéball.

""Double Team Thundershock!"" Both Sparks and Pikachu shocked Adam and Megan awake. Both of them got up from their bags and started chasing us.

"WE'LL GET YOU FOR THAT!" they both yelled.

"Have to catch us first," Leta teased.

"Less teasing, more running," I said, seeing Adam catching up to her. And Megan catching up to me. Kicking it up a notch, I started to pull away form Megan.

"GET BACK HERE YOU!" Megan yelled as I pulled away.

"NEVER!" I yelled back.

"Gotcha!" Adam said, as he caught Leta.

Defeated, Leta said, "Shoot."

After a while, Megan stopped chasing and went back to the camp. Since breakfast still had to be made, I returned shortly thereafter. Not seeing either Adam or Megan at the camp, I quietly snuck in behind some bushes. I saw Leta over the fire, cooking the breakfast. "Pss, Leta. Where are…"

"Right behind you, Chase!" Both Adam and Megan had snuck up on me and tackled me. "Now we got you where we want you!"

"Oh yeah! And what do you want from me?" I asked.

"Oh, just some payback." Megan said as she pulled out her Dratini's pokéball. "Draco, use ice beam!" Draco fired its ice beam straight at me. Soon my legs were encased in ice and I couldn't move.

"Dang, what to do now?" I asked.

"Stay there until breakfast is ready," Megan said with a smirk, as she went to help Leta with breakfast.

"And tell me what happened between you and Leta this morning," Adam said as he sat down beside me. "Because she said that something happened, and I'm curious. Since she wouldn't tell me. She just said it was between the two of you."

"Well, if that's what she said, then I can't tell you," I said, hoping Adam would let it go.

Getting a dark look in his face, Adam pointed to Megan and said, in a fake German accent, "Ve have ways of making you talk. Mwuhaha."

"What do you mean?" I asked, pretending to be scared.

"Not quite sure," Adam replied. "Just always wanted to say that." And if I could've fallen over anime style, trust me, I would have.

"Breakfast is ready!" both girls sang.

"And after this, Vermillion!" I exclaimed. "Er, after my legs thaw, anyways."

**Okay readers. I took my time on this one. And those who told me that you were disappointed in not seeing Leta's battle, I hope this soothed the wound. Yes, Megan is still with NTR. And if there is anything else, let me know. The time has now come, REVIEW! Pwease?!**


	13. Shocking Reception

**I don't own Pokémon, I won't own Pokémon. No, you cannot sue me. Like I said before, I don't own Pokémon. **

" " - talking; _Italics - _thinking

Xxxxxx - break in day or event; Xxxxxxxxxxxx - change of days

Chase - 10 yrs;Leta - 10 yrs; Adam - 13 yrs; Megan - 12

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

As we neared Vermillion, I started to grow nervous. It wasn't that I was going to the Vermillion PD as soon as we got there. Or that I might discover something that I would wish I didn't. I was growing nervous for a reason totally separate of my parents, NTR, and the Vermillion PD. _She _was there. And I guess it was showing, just a little.

"Come on Chase. What's the big deal? The city is right there!" Leta said, pointing into the city. She couldn't help but see that I jumped at nearly every sound that sounded like a twig or branch snapping. "Geez, what has you worked up so much?"

"Oh nothing," I lied.

"Spit it out. You're nervous about something. What?" Adam asked, as he grabbed me by the shoulder to hold me in place. He let go as soon as he realized how nervous I was. I was shaking like the last leaf on the tree in autumn.

I almost couldn't keep myself on my own feet. Every part of me seemed to want to jump in any direction at the littlest sound. "I'm fine, really." We continued on for a while, until Leta had had enough of the nervous act I was going through.

"What is wrong with you?!" Leta yelled. Her yelling had caused Adam and Megan to turn their heads in her direction. But it caused me to jump about ten feet into the air.

After calming down a bit, I spilled. "There's this girl. She lives here in Vermillion. The last time I visited Vermillion, she somehow figured out that I was coming, so she set a trap. She caught me. So as I hung in the trap, she tried to convince me to date her. She was only a year younger than me. Let's see, I was nine then, so she was eight. Now she's nine, and I'm ten. When I left, she made me promise that the next time I came here, that we'd go on another date. And I don't want to."

Laughing his butt off, Adam looked over and saw that I was giving him the death glare. He stopped for a second, thought about it, and then started laughing again. To Leta, I asked, "You still have that mallet? I would like to borrow it." Leta reached into her bag and pulled out the mallet.

"Oh, you mean this mallet?" she asked. I nodded my head yes. "I'll let you borrow it, as long as you introduce us to this girl. What was her name?"

Trying to figure what was worse; I didn't know what to do. "Shadow, what to do bud?" Shadow looked at the mallet, then to Adam, and then thought for a second. Shaking his head, he shook no. "Okay. Nah, I'll let him laugh for now. Later, I'll get him back."

"Why not introduce us to your girlfriend, Chasey?" Megan teased, laughing softly to herself.

"Because," I said, turning away from them, "she won't leave my along if she knows I'm here."

"Too late, Chasey!" a voice said from behind all of us.

"RYA! What are you doing here? And how'd you know I was coming?" I asked, surprised, and horrified she was here.

"One, to meet you and make sure that you go on that date," Rya said, as she started walking towards me. "And two, because I called Prof Oak a while ago and he said you left for your journey. Then I called Misty, and she said that I had just missed you. So I figured you'd be here about now." As she finished, she pounced on me and gave me a death hug. Well, not quite, but at the moment, I wished. As she let me back up, she grabbed me by the arm and started to escort me into the city. "Now, what to do for our _date_?"

"Uh, any help you guys?" I asked, looking over my shoulder. But to my displeasure, I saw all three of them laughing as hard as they could, rolling all over the place. "Thanks you guys," I mumbled.

Xxxxxx

"So what are you going to put me through today?" I asked Rya. She was pulling me through the city at nearly running speed. The only thing that kept her from running off with me was that she had to drag me. "And don't tell me that we're going to a movie!"

"No, actually. It might be something that will be kind of interesting for you," Rya said, obviously on a mission of some type, with me as her prisoner. "All right, close your eyes! We're almost there!"

Grimacing, I did what she said. _Great, what she going to do? And where are we going?_

"CHASE!" a man's voice rang out. I recognized the voice and opened my eyes to see the source of the sound. It was Rya's dad, and he was in a police uniform.

Seeing me in shock, Rya spoke up. "The PD promoted dad to Chief of Police in Vermillion. Now everyone just calls him Chief."

Snapping out of shock, I realized something. "Hey, can you get me the file on the _S.S. Relaxation _?"

"Thought you'd never ask," Chief said. He reached into his desk and pulled out a thick file folder. "In there you will find all that you need. Passenger manifest, underwater photos, bodies recovered, and cargo manifest." He slid it across the table and I picked it up. Flipping through, I started to look through it all. "There is something else you should know. Your parents' bodies haven't been recovered."

Reaching the passenger manifest, I stared at the list. I couldn't believe it. "This list hasn't been altered, has it?"

"No, why do you ask?" Chief asked, looking puzzled as I handed him the manifest.

"My parents' name isn't on that list. That's why! There's no _Nirvs_ on the manifest. Great, what really happened that night?" I couldn't believe it. I was sure they had gone on that ship. "What's funny is the PD had even called to say that the ship had gone done and my parents were gone."

"Who'd we call to let you know what happened?" Chief asked, as he was getting out of his seat.

"Prof Oak, why?" I asked.

"I'll be back. I'm going to go check something," and then Chief left the room.

Rya had been standing close to the door as she listened to what happened. "I thought that I might have had some good news for you. But I guess I didn't. I'm so sorry to have put you through that." She sat in the chair beside me.

_They weren't on the ship? What the heck happened that night?_ Suddenly, it started to feel a little stuffy in the room. "I'm, uh, going to go take a breather outside."

"Okay, I'll come with you," Rya said as she got up to follow me.

After relaxing a little outside on the bench, I still couldn't figure it out. But I had one thing in mind. "You know, even though it wasn't the news I thought I'd find out, I still thank you. I guess, I owe you a dinner."

"No, I'll let you off tonight. But you will have lunch with me. But I think you might want to fill your friends in on what you learned. Tonight, I think I'll try to do some research to find out some information for you. See ya!" As she got up, she leaned over and gave me a soft hug. "Good night."

"Thanks," I said, returning her hug.

Xxxxxx

I still had the file that Chief gave me when I got to the Pokémon Center. As I entered, I saw that Leta was still downstairs waiting for me to return. "So, how'd it go?" She asked, hoping to get a different story than what I was going to tell her.

"My parents weren't on the ship," I started.

"What? What's that?" Leta asked, confused and pointing to the file in my hands.

"The file on my parents' mishap. But I'll figure out more tomorrow," I said as I stuffed the file into my bag. "What's Megan and Adam doing right now?" I asked looking around the center.

"Adam's getting our rooms, and Megan is calling her father," Leta said. "So how'd the date with, Rya was it, go?"

"It wasn't a date. She took me to the PD, where her father is the Chief of Police. But I still have to go out with her tomorrow. I owe her that much for getting me this information," I said motioning to my bag.

"Great, so what now, Fox?" Leta asked, laughing.

Xxxxxx

Megan had found a phone booth in a shady area near the Pokémon center. As she dialed a number she started to think. _Neo Team Rocket only wanted to rule the world. But how can you rule a world if you kill off the people that you will rule over. _She heard the phone dialing. _Maybe, they pushed the limits too far. I want to rule the world, but not by killing people. _

"Yes Megan. What have you got for us this time?" Father asked.

"I'm informing you that the group has arrived in Vermillion. And I will do what you have instructed me to do." Megan answered.

"Good. We'll see the last of Kanto in the not too distant future. Do not let them get to the building. Or you will be hunted down," Mother threatened as she terminated the connection.

_More of this killing. It's become a normal thing for NTR to kill off any resistance. This ain't going to be good, _Megan thought as she stepped out of the booth. Standing not ten feet from the booth was a boy who seemed interested in her phone call.

"So what's the plan now, Megan?" the boy asked, walking up to her.

"We continue as planned," Megan sighed.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

"So where are you taking us for lunch?" I asked Rya, while we were walking towards the beach.

"Oh, just a seafood restaurant that sits on the beach. They have the best shrimp in all of Kanto." Rya had a hold of my arm, tugging at me to get to the restaurant quicker.

I noticed that she had a bag over her shoulder. _I wonder what she found out last night. Can't be anything too good I guess._

"We're here!" Rya said. I looked up and saw the sign. "Ocean's Buffet," Rya said as I read the sign.

"So, what's the special today? Shrimp?" I asked jokingly.

"Yup! But its jumbo shrimp day. All you can eat for five bucks," she said as she pulled me in.

Xxxxxx

"And where are you going, Leta?" Adam asked.

"Too make sure that that _Rya_ doesn't hurt Chase," she answered as she started for the door of the Pokémon center.

"Afraid she's going to steal him away?" Megan wondered aloud.

Turning a light shade of red, still facing the door, Leta said, "No. I'm just watching out for him."

"Sure, whatever," both Adam and Megan said together. Leta sighed and walked out the doors not too far behind Chase and Rya.

Xxxxxx

After the waiter had sat us outside on the patio, he took our drink orders and left us to decide on what to have for lunch. While thumbing through the menu, I wondered. _What did she find last night? _"What's in the bag?" I asked abruptly.

"Huh?" Rya looked up from her menu. "Oh! My bag!" She reached down and pulled out a folder that was about as thick as the file I got from Chief yesterday. "I did a background check on you. First off, you were an adopted child. No one knows who your real parents were. The name _Nirvs_, was the name of the orphanage that you were adopted from, _The Nirvs Orphanage_."

"I was adopted? So no one knows who my real parents were?" I asked, Rya shook sher head yes, then no. "So, what information did you find on the people who adopted me? I'm sure that you thought of that."

"Actually, yes. The people who adopted you didn't exist anywhere until the adopted you. They existed for only eight years on the records, then they vanished. Right when that ship went down. And I assume that your real parents are not with us, or they don't know where or who you are now. Or they just don't care."

"So, your telling me that my real parents might still be here. Or they could be gone forever." Rya nodded her head yes. "That's just.."

"Excuse me," the waiter had returned. "Are you two ready to order?"

"Yeah, I'll take the Jumbo Shrimp platter, with extra cocktail sauce," Rya said.

"Same hear," I said, handing my menu to the waiter. After he left, I turned my focus to the beach and ocean that was nearby. It was quiet until the waiter came back with the shrimp.

"Here's your food," the waiter said as he sat the two plates on the table. "Enjoy!"

"Thanks," we both said.

Xxxxxx

Hiding in the restaurant, Leta got a table that was on the far end of the patio at the _Ocean's Buffet_. She ordered a light plate of food and a soft drink. While she ate, she watched over the two, as she pretended to be interested in a magazine she had picked up. Every time she thought Chase was going to look in her direction, she turned her head to the magazine. _Watch it, Rya. I'm watching you._

Xxxxxx

As we continued to eat, I wanted to know more about what I didn't know. "So what about the people who adopted me? What could you find out?"

"The had many questionable activities. They were always gone on 'vacation'. And they didn't have a job on the records. And their 'vacations' were always to a remote island that had high security standards. But why they took a regular 'vacation' on a ship is what blows my mind right now." Rya finally stopped and let it all sink in.

I quickly put it together. "They worked for a secret government. Their 'vacations' was when they went to work for real. And this last 'vacation' was a real one. They were possibly going to defect, so they had the ship sunk, and their bodies recovered, dead. Or a rival government wanted them dead because they were spies, and they were detected. Then they faked a PD phone call to let someone know that I would have to be taken care of. THAT'S IT!"

Xxxxxx

Leta looked shocked when she heard Chase yell, as was everyone else at the restaurant. _What's it?_

Xxxxxx

"What's it, Chase?" Rya asked.

"My life is a total fake. The only think that is true is to become what I want to become," I stated.

"And what's that?" Rya asked again.

"An Eeveeologist," I answered.

"Ah, I know what you need to do now," Rya said giggling.

"What?" I asked.

"Challenge Captain Surge for the Thunderbadge. That way, you'll be closer to being an Eeveeologist," she explained.

"Your right. But wasn't he a lieutenant?" I asked.

"Yeah, but he got a self-proclaimed 'promotion'," Rya said. Then her phone started to ring. Looking at it, she realized her dad, Chief, was calling her. "What's up, Dad?"

"Let me speak to Chase," Chief said over the phone.

"Here Chase, its Chief," she said, handing the phone to me.

"What cha got Chief?" I asked.

"I checked all of our phone logs. No one from the PD called Prof Oak when the ship went down. So I think this a set up or something. I got to go. Bye." Then Chief hung up and the line went dead,

"Figures. Then only other person who's given me a straight answer had to go. Okay," I said, turning back to Rya, "here's what he told me. No one from the Vermillion PD called Prof Oak that night. So there's a set up that I'm sensing."

"We kind of just figured that out, didn't we?" Rya asked, looking confused,

"Yup. So now this isn't just revenge." I said, raising from the table. "I'm sorry to cut this lunch short. But I need to go train, and then challenge Captain Surge. Here's for the food," I said, laying some money on the table. Then I left.

After I left, Rya looked through the file again. Seeing that it was all there, she put it back in her bag. "Guess I'll drop it off at the Pokémon Center for him." Then she got up and left.

Xxxxxx

_What was all that about? But I too need to go train for my challenge._ Then Leta got up and left. After she paid, of course.

Xxxxxx

It was dark before Chase and Leta got back to the Pokémon Center. Leta arrived a few minutes before Chase, so she was waiting for him as he walked in the doors. "Have fun?"

"No. Why, worried?" I countered.

Stammering, Leta said, "No."

"Good. Then I have some interesting news for you guys. Let's find the other two, and I'll explain." As we walked by the front desk, Nurse Joy stopped us.

"Excuse me, are you Chase?" Joy asked.

"Yes, why?" I responded.

"A girl named Rya dropped this off for you," Joy said, handing a file to me.

"Oh, thanks. I must have forgotten about it at the restaurant. Thanks Joy," I said. "Okay, now we can go fill in the others.

Xxxxxx

"The threat is in the city. Take care not to be seen by Megan or the group she's with," Father informed Busch.

"We'll be done in two days. Then its adios Kanto," Busch said.

"Good. Keep things under wraps for now. And stay out of sight as much as possible," Mother instructed. "But if they find you, take no prisoners. Get rid of them all."

"Yes Mother," Busch answered. Then the screen went blank. _Alright! It'll be killing time if anyone comes in here!_

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

**Shocking, wasn't it? Could his parents have been part of NTR? Or spirits in human form to protect him when he was younger? Or is there something else I'm planning? **

**And who was Megan with? And what is she really feeling? **

**The only way to find out is to read the next chapter.**

**So you know the drill. You read it. Now please tell me what you think of it. All you have to do is be honest with me!**


	14. A Shocking Round

**I don't own Pokémon, I won't own Pokémon. No, you cannot sue me. Like I said before, I don't own Pokémon. **

**I'm sorry for not putting up this chapter two Fridays ago, like I had planned. But I ran into some difficulties and had to put this on the back burner for a while. Hopefully, I have taken care of those difficulties. And now, on with the next segment of the story.**

" " - talking; _Italics - _thinking

Xxxxxx - break in day or event; Xxxxxxxxxxxx - change of days

Chase - 10 yrs;Leta - 10 yrs; Adam - 13 yrs; Megan - 12

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

I awoke as the sun started to peek through the window of the room that Adam and I were sharing. One thing popped into my mind as soon as I got up and looked out the window. _Today, we challenge Captain Surge of the Vermillion City Gym for my third badge, the Thunder Badge._ I looked over to the ground beside my bed. Five foxes were sleeping, as Shadow was waking up. "Ready for today, little guy?"

"Vee!" _Yes!_

Xxxxxx

"Well, what are we doing today?" Adam asked. Both me and Leta were in an undeclared eating contest. He looked to both of us, then turned to Megan. "Aren't they cute when they are trying to outdo the other?"

Leta paused, and glared at Adam for his comment. I kept on going, however glancing to check that Leta didn't reach out to strangle her older brother. _I'm winning!_ "Done with this plate! Time for thirds!" I said as I got up and headed for the buffet for a third time. But this time, I didn't get as much. I knew my limit, and I had just passed it about a plate ago. So all I got were muffins for all of us.

Sitting the muffins in the middle of the table, I caught a surprised look from everybody. "What?"

"No more plateful of food?" Megan said, breaking the silence.

"Oh, that. Nah, I'm done eating. Anyways, I think I won." I waved a strawberry muffin for all to see. "And with this muffin, I declare myself the winner of this undeclared eating contest!" Before I could take a bite out of it, Leta grabbed it and sat it back on the plate. "Hey! That was my muffin."

"So, I can still win." Leta said.

"How?" I asked, curious as to how she could still win.

"By eating another plate, and then eating a muffin," she pointed out.

"Or, how's this," Megan started, "who ever finishes eating their muffin, wins." I nodded my head, and Leta took a few seconds before accepting the challenge. "But first, you Leta, need to finish your plate." Leta groaned.

As she finished her plate, I stared at the muffin I had chosen. It wasn't a small cupcake muffin. It was one of those humongous breakfast muffins you see at the bakeries. Finally, Leta was done, and Megan sat the muffins done and started to count down. "Three, two, one. Go!"

I casually picked up my muffin and started to eat at it slowly. Leta, grabbed hers as quickly as she could, and started to stuff it down her throat. Somewhere after the third bite, Leta's face turned a slight shade of green. Without saying anything, she got up and quickly ran to the bathroom.

"Maybe, I should follow her," Megan said, getting up to follow Leta. I, meanwhile, continued to eat my muffin.

"You haven't answered my question yet. What are you going to do today?" Adam asked.

Finishing the muffin, I replied in a calm voice, "Challenge Captain Surge."

Xxxxxx

"You're going where?!" Leta asked after she returned from the bathroom.

"The city gym. Want to come?" I replied.

"Heck yeah! Should we team up and battle two on two again?" Leta asked.

"No. One on one. To see how you've improved yourself. And it'll be more fun that way." I answered, with a grin. (A/N: YES, I CAN GRIN! )

"Alright then. Let's get going," Megan said, grabbing Adam out of the booth by the arms.

Xxxxxx

As we entered the gym, I saw a man in the back in the shadows. He didn't seem to have noticed us enter. We paused at the middle of the battlefield when we saw the man look up, noticing us. In a harsh voice, he asked, "Are you kids here for the badge of this gym?"

"Yes sir, I am," I answered. The man stood up and walked out of the shadows. He had on combat fatigues and boots. "You must be the self proclaimed Captain Surge."

"A Captain I am. But I have earned this title through the battles I have fought through. So, who wants to be the first to go down?" Surge asked, as he looked our group over.

"I am. The name is Nirvs. Chase Nirvs. Future Eevee Master of the Pokémon World." I introduced myself.

"Great," Surge sighed. "A kid who thinks an Eevee is going to defeat me. Alright, the rules are one on one. I'll show you the same amount of mercy I show my enemies. None. You ready kid?"

"Whenever you're done inflating your own ego," I replied in a cocky tone.

"Fine, then let's do this. Then I'll take on the next one who wants to." Surge took his position on his side of the battlefield, as I did on my side. "Riachu, battle time!"

"Sparks, you're up!" A yellow, spiky haired Eevee came out of the pokéball.

"Jolteon!" _Finally!_ Jolteon stared at the Riachu. Then, before the battle got started, he disappeared in a blur.

"What?! Where'd he go?" Surge looked around the gym frantically. So did his Riachu.

_Good question. I don't know what's going on, _I thought to myself. Suddenly, Sparks reappeared as he tackled Riachu. Riachu was knocked down to the ground, but quickly recovered. "Quick, another Quick Attack Sparks!"

"Oh no you don't. Riachu, Electric Tornado!" Riachu started to spin around, causing an indoor twister to take form, with energy crackling within it. As Sparks closed in, he got hit by the twister and sent to the side of the field.

"Get up Sparks and try again." Sparks got back up, and rushed in again. With Riachu still spinning, its tail clipped Sparks, and sent him flying to the side again.

"Give it up. This new attack is undefeatable. Nothing can get through it!" Surge exclaimed. Then Riachu's twister started to move in Sparks's direction.

"Then we have to fight thunder with thunder. Sparks, charge up and launch Thundershock!" Sparks started to soak in energy from the surrounding areas. The lights grew dim, and all electrical systems in the building went down. Right before the twister was on Sparks, he released the tremendous amount of energy that he gathered. The blast was enough to stop the twister, and send Riachu to the opposite side of the field.

"Not bad kid. But can you handle a direct blast?" Then Riachu launched a Thunderbolt in Sparks's direction. The attack happened so quick, that I didn't have a chance to warn Sparks. But as the attack hit Sparks, he only got pushed back a little on the field. "What the..? That attack usually nails the opponent."

_Thanks to Sparks' ability, Volt Absorb, he can recover when hit with electricity. _"Now, use quick attack!" Sparks rushed into Riachu.

"Riachu. Thunderpunch!" With Sparks' speed from the quick attack, the punch was double strengthed. The effect was Sparks being sent to the edge of the field again.

"What's next, kid? This is over!" Riachu started to charge for another thunderbolt. But then Sparks rushed in and tried to bite Riachu. Something was different though. It's fangs were glowing. "FIRE!" Then Riachu unleashed a devastating attack. The blast slammed Sparks against the side of the gym's wall.

Adam started to mumble something to himself. Hearing this, Leta asked what was up. "I've seen this attack that Sparks is trying to use. It's where it bites its enemy, while sending a surge of electricity through the opponent's body. I believe it was called," then Adam went silent trying to remember the name. "That's it! CHASE! Tell Sparks to use Thunder Fang!"

_Worth a shot I guess._ "Sparks, use Thunder Fang." Sparks' fangs glowed brightly again.

"Finish this kid off Riachu." The Riachu started to spin again. But not as quickly as last time, having spent a lot of its energy. The faster it spun, its tail stuck out. Sparks focused on this and timed its Fang attack. In a blink of an eye, Sparks grabbed the tail of the Riachu. As the contact shocked Sparks, he sent the energy back through his fangs, plus some of his own energy, into Riachu's tail. Riachu screamed out in pain, as he stopped spinning and stood there, shocked.

"SNAP BACK TO ATTENTION RIACHU!" Surge yelled. But Riachu didn't move.

"Sparks, use tackle." As Sparks rushed in, Surge threw in the white flag. Sparks saw this, but continued his attack. Right before Sparks could make contact, Surge quickly recalled his Riachu, seeing that Sparks wasn't quite done with the battle. Sparks hit the area that Riachu had been just a moment prior. Seeing that his opponent had disappeared, he trudged over to my side of the field and scoffed at Surge.

"No use in humiliating me any further. I concede. As such reward, I give you this badge. It is the thunder badge." Surge handed me the badge. I took it, showed it to Sparks.

"See, you help me get this badge for us. Now, take a rest," I said, as I recalled Sparks.

"Now, give me an hour. And then I'll take the next challenger." Surge left the gym, obviously heading for the Pokémon Center.

"And Round One goes to us! Next Round, Leta vs. Surge! Ready, FIGHT!" Megan exclaimed.

"Uh, Megan. You kind of need the gym leader here to start the fight," Adam pointed out.

"Hehehe. Oh, sorry. Just got caught up in the action. So you ready Leta?" Megan asked.

"We'll see. Won't we?" Leta answered, staring at the field, trying to figure out her own battle strategy.

Xxxxxx

While waiting for Surge to return, I was thinking about the information Rya had given me the day before. As I was thinking, I realized something else had happened the day before. "Hey Leta. Did you follow me and Rya to _Ocean's Buffet_ yesterday?"

Deep in thought of her upcoming battle, Leta turned to me with a blank look on her face. "What was that?"

"I asked, 'Did you follow me and Rya to _Ocean's Buffet_ yesterday?'" I said, repeating my question.

"No, I didn't follow you there. I heard from Joy that they had some of the best seafood in the area. Wait, you guys went there?" Leta tried to play it off.

"Yeah, we went there. And I saw you enter the buffet. And every time I looked around, you seemed to stick your nose into a magazine," I stated, as Leta's face started to show some denial. "And if you wanted to be more convincing, you should have tried reading the magazine right side up." At this, Leta hung her head, and Adam and Megan started to laugh.

"So what if I did follow you there. You don't think I would let you go and be by yourself with her, especially after you made such a big deal about her. And, anyways," Leta started, looking up. She saw a man in fatigues walking back to the gym. "We'll finish later. Right now," she said, pointing to Surge, "it's time for me to battle Surge."

"Hope you trained after lunch yesterday," Adam commented.

"You bet I did! And I have a surprise for you guys," Leta said, holding the pokéball that held the pokémon she was going to use.

Xxxxxx

After reentering the gym, Surge retook his side of the field. He pulled out a pokéball and readied himself for another round of fighting for the day. Looking to the group of kids, he wondered who was going to be the next challenger. "Whoever is ready to fight me, come on. I've got something else to use now."

Leta stepped forward, and stared at Surge. _This might be a little harder than I thought. Watching Chase was good, but he said he has something new. Shoot, there goes my strategy._ Holding her pokéball in her hand, she raised it and pointed it to Surge. "Ready whenever you are!"

"Good," Surge sneered, "go Pikachu!" A yellow mouse emerged from the pokéball.

_Good thing I didn't go with Pikachu, but I might still have a problem._ She released her pokémon. After the light faded, a fiery lizard stood in the fighting field. _I hope this works._

"A Charmeleon? When'd she get a Charmeleon?" Adam asked, puzzled. After racking his brain for a quick second, I slapped him.

"Dude, Charmeleon is the evolved form of Charmander. She obviously trained after lunch, and it evolved then. I just hope it was against someone strong," I said.

"You have no idea," remarked Megan.

"And how would you know?" asked Adam.

"Because," Megan said, "she asked my help to train yesterday. _After_, she got back from spying on Chase."

"And we are going to have to talk about that later, Leta," I said, mainly to Leta.

"Okay, but it's my turn to battle. Surge, get ready for another loss today," Leta said.

"In your dreams kids," Surge sneered. His loss to Chase earlier had made him angry. He wasn't going to let a group of kids humiliate him twice in a row easily. "Let's start this off. Pikachu, use quick attack!" The move was so quick, so quick that Leta didn't have enough time to call a counter. Pikachu slammed into the side of Charmeleon. "Again," Surge called out.

_I have to time this just right. Last time, he attacked before I expected, but not this time._ Leta waited until the last possible second, then called out. "Charmeleon, use Ember!" Charmeleon had been watching as carefully as it could, trying to keep up with Pikachu's attack. As the mouse got closer, he started to growl at it, then his mouth fired up with fire. Right before Pikachu made contact, Charmeleon blasted it with a face full of fire. "DIRECT HIT!" But Pikachu had been going so fast, that it still ran into Charmeleon.

"Not bad, rookie. But you still won't win. Pikachu, use Thundershock!" Pikachu started to charge up, then it released it's energy in the direction of Charmeleon.

"Charmeleon, dodge it and counter with scratch." Charmeleon tried to move, but the last run in with Pikachu had paralyzed him. He struggled, but he couldn't move at all. He watched as the electric attack slammed into him and flung him to the side of the field.

"I don't get it," Adam said. "Pikachu hadn't used an electric type attack until just now. But Charmeleon had been paralyzed."

I chuckled at his comment. "It's easy to understand. Remember when I fought Surge earlier? Instead of his Riachu knocking Sparks out with its attack, it recharged him due to his ability, Volt Absorb. And his Riachu had the ability of Static. But since it was electric to electric, Sparks wasn't paralyzed so easily. But since Riachu is the evolved form of Pikachu, it makes sense that they would have the same ability. So whenever you hit an opponent, or whenever they hit you, if their pokémon's ability is Static, then you might become paralyzed." I watched as Charmeleon tried to move again as Surge called out another attack. But Charmeleon couldn't. "She better call the match, or he is going to be in a world of hurt here soon."

_We can't give up. I won't allow myself failure._ "We have to beat him," Leta said to Charmeleon.

Everyone watched as Charmeleon growled at the Pikachu that was mocking him. He didn't like it. He wasn't going to let a mouse defeat him. Charmeleon focused all his energy into moving. "CHAR!" it yelled out as it broke free of the paralysis.

"Pikachu, it's over, quick attack," Surge ordered.

"It's now or never, Charmeleon. Do it!" Leta said. Charmeleon watched as the mouse ran in. At the last possible second, it used tail whip, which knocked the feet out from under the mouse. Then he got on top of Pikachu and started to continuously scratch the mouse. When Charmeleon was convinced he was done with the mouse, he stopped and got off of Pikachu.

"PIKACHU, GET BACK UP AND FINISH THIS LIZARD!" Surge called out.

Charmeleon glared at Surge. He had just called him a lizard. But he knew he was a lizard that could win. He watched as the Pikachu weakly got back up and tried a new attack. It was like a quick attack mixed with a Thundershock. Charmeleon merely side stepped the mouse and then slammed it to the ground with its tail. He then growled at the mouse, daring it to get back up.

"PIKACHU," Surge said, losing his control, "get back up and finish him off!" Pikachu did nothing though, but Charmeleon, still growling, filled its mouth with fire, waiting for the Pikachu to do something. Pikachu did do something, waved its tail in defeat like a surrender flag. Charmeleon raised his head and released the Ember attack it had been waiting to use.

"I believe I just won," Leta smirked at Surge. "Thanks Charmeleon, you were great." She recalled her Charmeleon, then looked at Surge.

"I guess you've earned this. Here's the thunderbadge. Take care, and don't let that fire die." Looking to our group, he asked, "Anyone else want to challenge me today?" We all shook our heads. "Good, I can't take another beating today." Then Surge left the gym.

"So where do we go to celebrate?" asked Megan.

"_Ocean's Buffet_!" both me and Leta yelled. We looked at each other, confused for a second, then burst out laughing.

"What is it with them?" Megan asked Adam.

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked, while Megan shook her head. Adam sighed, then said, "They were made for each other."

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

**So what do y'all think? The only way I'll know is if you review and tell me. So review, dammit!**

**Much apologies for not doing this sooner. But like I said, ran into some difficulties that I had to take care of. Hopefully, I will be able to get my next chapter up this coming Friday, like I planned.**

**And my next chapter I hope will tie up some loose ends. Like I said, I hope.**


	15. NTR's Hideout

**I don't own**** Pokémon, I won't own Pokémon. But I do own this story line and everything that isn't from the series.**

" " - talking; _Italics - _thinking

Xxxxxx - break in day or event; Xxxxxxxxxxxx - change of days

Chase - 10 yrs;Leta - 10 yrs; Adam - 13 yrs; Megan - 12

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

"Boys, we ship out tomorrow! So let's go out into town tonight and have a few drinks," Mic said as he was putting some crates onto a ship. His idea was met with nods of approval from both Busch and Miller.

"And while we're at it, let's get us some action," Miller said with a smirk.

"Yeah, I'm just itching to fight someone," Busch said. They hadn't fought anyone since they had been reassigned to cleaning out the warehouse.

"So let's find us a fight, and then we'll drink after our victory!" exclaimed Mic.

Xxxxxx

Adam and Leta were still asleep when I woke up. _Great, I can __go for a walk and not be bothered__ by her. Now, just walk out the door and _**THUD! **_What the heck?! _I thought as I rubbed my head. I looked up, to see Megan was awake, and she had Leta's mallet. "What are you doing with that mallet? And why did you have to hit me?"

"Oh, this isn't hers, it's MINE. And I'm preventing you from going on your walk. It's too dark to go by yourself. Why don't you get Leta to go with you?" Megan asked.

"Because I like walking at predawn times and I like the quietness of walking by myself. Is there something you want to tell me, or are you just being a pain?" I asked.

"Well, kind of. I woke up early because Leta was talking in her sleep, _again_. Do you know she does that?" Megan asked, looking to me.

"Honestly," I said slowly, "no I don't. But what was it that she was saying?" I asked, curiously.

"Something about you leaving her, and then turning evil and…" Megan stopped short.

"Oh, that dream again," I sighed. "She's been having that dream for a while now. Can't tell you the reason for it. But I know that I wouldn't turn on my friends." Then I laughed softly. I caught a different look from Megan. One that said 'Should I tell him'. "So was there more about Leta, or do you want to talk to me about something else?"

"Well, yeah. There kinda is." Megan looked down at her feet. "I already told Adam this. He was shocked, but said that if I helped you, that he would understand as long as I helped you as much as I could." She took a breath and looked straight at me. "I'm part of Neo Team Rocket. And they have a warehouse here in the city and their leaving soon."

I was shocked. _How could Adam be cool with this._ "How long ago did you tell him?" I asked, getting slightly agitated. The enemy had been so close, and I hadn't even thought of it.

"Last week, but it was …" I had had enough of her talking, as I walked back into my and Adam's room.

"YOU STUPID IDIOT! HOW COULD YOU KEEP SOMETHING LIKE THIS AWAY FORM ME?" I yelled as I violently shook Adam awake. Shocked by the events at hand, being waken up in such a manner, Adam shoved me off of him and onto the floor. Megan jumped on top of me to keep me from getting back up and jumping Adam again, or leaving.

"Cool man. I thought that if I told you, you'd freak out. Kinda like you are doing now. But I kept it from you because it wasn't my job to tell you," Adam said as he got off the bed and helped out Megan restrain me.

Not saying this to anyone in particular, I muttered, "And you wonder why she is having those dreams. It's because my friends can't even tell the truth." I had to get out. This was just too much to digest. I looked around the room and spotted my other pokéballs and saw Shadow gather them. He nodded to me and left the room with them. I just had to wait for the right time to make my escape.

Sensing that I had stopped struggling, Megan got up and found a chair and some rope. As Adam lifted me up, I swung and got him in the gut. He quickly dropped me and I ran out of the room. Shadow had taken the pokéballs outside, where I met him. "Let's go for a longer walk than usual, kay Shadow?"

"Vee," Shadow said in an agitated tone.

"I know. We might just have to leave them. And continue this on our own."

Xxxxxx

"WHAT?!" yelled the now awake Leta.

"Megan is part of Neo Team Rocket," her brother said to her again.

"But I was forced to join," Megan explained. "They had my Dratini and said they were either going to use it for their plans, and kill me, or I could keep Dratini, stay alive, as long as I worked for them. Of course I chose the latter."

"So it wasn't out of choice?" Leta asked. Megan shook her head no. "We have to go find Chase before he gets in trouble," Leta said, as she started for the door.

"It might be more difficult than you think, Leta," Adam said. "Chase thinks we're his enemy now. Well, not you. We didn't mention you, but we just told you also. And he probably is out trying to find the warehouse that NTR is hiding in. Or he just left town to continue his journey."

"No, he's out looking for the warehouse. I'm sure of it," Leta said. "He wants to find the truth behind his parents' disappearance. And with so many stories, he's going to search every lead to the end." Then Leta had a thought. Leta turned to Megan, "If you've been with NTR for a while now, do you know anything about his parents and NTR?"

"No, I don't," sighed Megan. "If I did, I would have told him earlier also. But he didn't give me any time to explain my full story."

"Then we have to find him, before he finds the warehouse," Adam said.

Xxxxxx

Approaching the docking bay, I saw rows of docks. And each dock had a container ship at it. There was also a warehouse for every dock. "Let's search them all, Shadow."

"Vee"

Xxxxxx

"If I remember correctly," Megan said as she led Adam and Leta towards a warehouse, "this is the one that NTR had been using. And there is the ship that they are going to use to leave Kanto," she said, pointing to the ship at the closest dock..

"So what do we do now?" asked Adam.

"We wait to see when NTR or Chase show up. If NTR shows, then we know that he hasn't found them. And if we see Chase, then we send Leta to detour him here where we tie him up until he understands what really happened," Megan explained. Her plan was met with nods of approval from both Adam and Leta. _I just hope we still have time._

Xxxxxx

It was turning early evening when I and Shadow got down to the last two warehouses at the docks. "Figures they would choose one of the last ones. Well let's go search this one and then finish this up tonight." I opened the door to the warehouse and entered. Shadow, however, hesitated before entering. "We're not going to find them if you stall, Shadow."

After Shadow entered, the door slammed shut. "WHAT THE…?" I ran back the door and tried to push it open. But it wouldn't move. "We are definitely getting closer. Someone is trying to keep us from getting to the truth." Then I noticed that Shadow had ran off to the other side of the warehouse. I followed him and found another door. _Worth a shot, I guess._ We pushed on the door, but like the last door, had no luck. "See if you can get to the top of these crates and go out one of the windows, Shadow." Shadow jumped onto the highest crate, but couldn't reach the window. Scowling at the window, Shadow jumped back down and looked around.

"**I can help you get out**," a voice said from the shadows.

At first, I thought I was hearing things. But seeing Shadow's reaction told me otherwise. The voice repeated, and I tried to find where it came from. "How can you help me?" I finally said after not finding the source of the voice.

**"I need your help, and I can help you in return, Chase," **the voice said.

"What do you need my help for. And how do you know my name?" I asked nervously.

**"I've been following you before you started you journey. I was always the reason you looked over your shoulder. Ever since you declared that you wanted to be an Eevee Master, I have been drawn to you. And we have something in common." **Then, a shadow emerged from the shadows. It was in the form of an Eevee, but much larger than usual. **"My name is, Nogitsune."**

"What is it that we have in common?" I asked, slightly more nervous.

**"We both are the victims of a group that calls themselves Neo Team Rocket."**

"Yeah, I know of them. They are behind my parents', uh adopted parents', disappearance. What do you know of them?"

**"They are the ones that killed m****e****, because I grew to be uncontrollable, even for their master, who has no name. So you see, you help me avenge my own death, and I help you find the truth behind their disappearance."**

Thinking back to what happened earlier today, I had a question for Nogitsune. "Do you recall a girl named Megan, who had a Dratini?"

The shadow shook his head. **"That must have been after me, for I have been dead for two years now. About as long as your parents have been gone****, Chase****"** The shadow floated up to a window. **"If you want my help, I will help you. For I see that our two paths are combined.**** And as I see it, we will either win both, or loose both.****"**

Thinking it over, I asked, "What would be the worst case scenario for this team up?"

**"We fail, death,"** Nogitsune replied.

"Will you remain controllable, for both our sakes?"

The shadow smirked. **"If you can control your****self****, then yes****. And your Eevees will grow stronger than normal ones. And ****possibly ****bigger, like me."**

I looked to Shadow. Shadow looked back up to me. I could tell what he was thinking. _More power, easier to fight with more power._ "So what do you think?" Shadow nodded his head. Then to Nogitsune, I said, "Fine, it's a deal."

**"Good,"** he said, as his shadow enveloped my body, and Shadow's.

I watched as the shadow even penetrated into my other pokéballs. Suddenly, I felt a surge of pain, which emanated from the shadow. I fell to the ground, grabbing my sides, and howling in pain. And I didn't stop howling until the door to the warehouse opened up, with shining light blasting into the dark warehouse. In the light, I saw three human figures.

Xxxxxx

"So what do you think we ought to do with the brat?" Mic asked Busch. They had opened up the warehouse door and found me writhing on the floor in pain. They also saw my Eevee suffering in pain as well.

"We were supposed to keep him out of this warehouse. But since he found it, I guess we need to call Father and Mother to see what to do," Busch said as he walked over to a video-phone. "We'll figure this out."

"Well," Miller said, returning from tying up me and Shadow in one of the remaining crates in the warehouse, "the brat is all tied up, and can't excape."

"Great, the new plan is that are to take him to Father and Mother," Busch said after getting off the phone with Father and Mother. "There, they will do their thing to induct him into the fold. That is, if he wants to live," he added with a cruel smirk. "Load that crate onto the ship. The next time he sees light, he'll be part of us!" Mic and Miller both laughed and started up the crane.

Xxxxxx

"You're sure that you saw them go into that warehouse?" Adam asked Megan. Megan nodded her head.

"Well let's get in there and save him," Leta said as she headed for the door. She reached out to grab the handle and turn it, but it was locked.

"They must have locked it once they went inside," Megan said. Suddenly, they all heard a motor start up from inside of the warehouse. Then the garage door lifted up, and a crane came through the door. "Quick, hide in the bushes!" All three of them jumped behind the bushes, just in time so that none of the NTRs saw them.

"Hey, once you get the brat and his Eevee on board, met us at the tavern Miller," Mic said.

"Okay, be there soon," Miller said. He watched as Mic and Busch left for town. Then to the crate, he said, "You've become more trouble than your worth kid. But I know a way to get even with you." He lowered the crate to the ground, and opened it back up. "It's payback time, brat!" He cracked his knuckles and advanced on me, still tied up in the crate unable to fight.

From the bushes, Megan, Leta, and Adam could hear Miller punching me in the crate. After a few minutes, Miller stepped back out, and resumed putting the crate onto the ship. Soon, he was on his way to the local tavern that Mic and Busch had left for.

And for the first time in a long time, I started to cry, realizing what had just happened. And what was going to happen. Unless I did something. _I can't let it end this way_

Xxxxxx

"We have to get on that ship and rescue Chase," Leta said.

"Sure, I'm all for it," Megan replied.

"Then let's get going," Adam said, pulling out some fatigues that he had in his bag. After dressing his part, he and the other two carefully crept up the ship's ladder. Once they got to the top, they stared in amazement at how many crates there were.

"This might take a while," Megan sighed.

"Not too long, they just put his crate in here. So it should be easy to find," Leta reasoned. Soon, they were breaking open all the crates. Instead of his crate being at the front, like they had thought, they realized that his crate had been hidden. "We'll just have to open them all, until we find him," Leta said, panting.

"Even if it takes all night," Megan said, reassuring her that she was doing what she could to help.

Adam paused for a second. "Hey, I think I hear knocking over in this direction."

Xxxxxx

I couldn't see much, but what I could see gave me an idea. Shadow's legs were bound together, rendering him unable to do anything. I, however, was able to move my legs, even tied together. So I started to bang as hard as I could against the side of the crate. And then when I started to hear voices, voices that I recognized, I banged as hard as I could. Through the crate, I could make out who was there. Soon, I watched as the side of the crate was pulled off. For the second time of the day, I saw a blinding light shone into my eyes. And this time, the three figures that I saw were my friends.

Leta and Megan both untied me and helped me to my feet, while Adam went over to Shadow and untied him. After I could stand on my own, I caught the surprised look from everyone. The bruises that the NTR thug had left were really starting to show. "Chase, I'm really sorry …" Megan started.

"I'll deal with you later. Where did they go?" I asked, starting for the ladder off the ship.

"I heard the one say to meet them at the tavern after loading you," Leta said.

"And they are probably going to be there for a while," added Adam.

As weak as I felt, I also felt a surge of strength come over me. Clinching my fists, I took off for the only tavern in Vermillion. It didn't take long for the others to catch up and ask me what I was going to do. In a combined voice of my own and **Nogitsune's**, I said, "Revenge, and I'm not taking any prisoners!" The others shared a worried look, not sure what was going on.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

**Hey people! I'm sorry this one is late. Just had some trouble. I'll hopefully get my next chapter done by next Friday and have it up then, to get back on schedule.**

**So, what did you think? Please tell me! I've been thinking about this particular chapter for a while, and really am interested in what you think.**

**And trust me, next chapter is going to be interesting. Because Chase, not going to ruin the fun! Just have to check it out when I get the next chapter done.**

**Later!**


	16. The Demon Within

**I don't own Pokémon, I won't own Pokémon. But I do own this story line and everything that isn't from the series.**

" " - talking; _Italics - _thinking

Xxxxxx - break in day or event; Xxxxxxxxxxxx - change of days

Chase - 10 yrs;Leta - 10 yrs; Adam - 13 yrs; Megan – 12; Rya – 9 yrs

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

It wasn't too long before Chase and his friends made it to the town tavern. Unsure of what Chase was going to do, the other three hung back a ways and watched. Chase walked up to the door of the tavern, then looked backed to his friends.

In his shadowed voice, Chase said, "Stay out here. This is my fight. One that I want to finish." He cracked his knuckles and walked into the tavern.

After he saw Chase go into the tavern, Adam turned to Megan and Leta. "If he needs help, we're going to need all the help we can get. Go get Rya and her dad. They might be able to help if things get out of hand." Both girls nodded their heads, and took off to go find Rya. _What are you doing Chase?_

Xxxxxx

"So what shall we do for our last night in town?" Mic said, drinking his beer.

"Just sit here, and let the beer keep on coming!" Miller said, grabbing another bottle.

"Careful you two. Don't want to get to drunk that you won't wake up in the morning on time," Busch said, reminding them what they were suppose to do in the morning.

"You think we were too rough on the brat?" Miller asked. "I mean, shouldn't we have brought him along to share in our victory?"

"He's still the enemy. And he will be until Father and Mother get a hold of him. And then we can go out for drinks with him," Miller answered.

"So he can sit in that crate until he arrives at headquarters," Mic added.

Chase had been listening in on their conversation. He calmly walked up to the bar, and asked for a drink. After a few minutes, he got up and turned towards the thugs. Once again in his shadowed voice, he spoke to them. "Miss me?"

All three of them jumped like a ghost had just appeared in front of them. Busch was the first to find his voice. "I thought you were on the ship!"

"I was," Chase replied. "But I have ways of getting where I want to." He cracked his knuckles again.

"If it's a fight you want, you've come to the right place," Miller said, agitated that Chase had somehow gotten out of the crate he had sealed. Miller advanced on Chase, prepared to knock him down. But Chase moved faster, and dodged the attack. Chase then threw a fist into Miller's side, knocking the wind out of him.

"Who's next?" Chase asked, rage showing in his eyes. It wasn't too long before the fight had escalated to the point that the manager of the tavern yelled at them toke the fight outside. Some of the patrons on the tavern yelled in agreement, but most were happy to see a fight going on. And the main one was Captain Surge.

_That can't be the same kid that fought me! He looks the same, but his act is totally different, _Surge thought. _Maybe I'll stick around to see if he needs help._

"Fine," Chase said to the manager. "This place is too crowded for me anyways." Then to the thugs, who were still itching to fight, "We'll go outside and finish this now." He didn't take his eyes off the thugs, but also made his way through the door to outside.

Adam saw Chase exit the tavern, followed by the three NTR thugs and everyone else from inside. He even saw Surge walk out with the crowd. _Chase, don't do anything stupid. Too many witnesses here._ He grabbed three of his pokéballs, just in case Chase needed a hand. _Absol, Metagross, and Salamence, I might need your help here. That is, if things get too out of hand._

"Your moves," Chase said, taunting the thugs.

"You're done tonight kid!" Busch yelled as he released his Houndoom. Mic and Miller followed suit by releasing their Absol and Zangoose.

"If that's the way you want to fight, then I'm game," Chase said as he released Sparks, Aquis, and Blaze. But like himself, each one of them seemed to have a dark aura. Shadow showed his displeasure at not being chosen to fight by growling at Chase. "In due time, Shadow. In due time."

Xxxxxx

"RYA! We need your help!" Leta said as she and Megan got to the police building.

"Why, what's wrong?" Rya asked, seeing that the two had been running like crazy, she figured it out. _Chase is in trouble._ "Let me go get Chief!" Soon, the four of them were running back to the tavern as fast as they could.

"So what's wrong with Chase?" Chief asked, as he ran.

"Short story," Leta started. "Chase got captured by NTR after a fight he and Megan had. But when we rescued him, he seemed, different. And he said he wanted revenge on them. With no prisoners. I think he might seriously hurt them, or kill them."

"It's all my fault. I told him I was part of NTR," Megan said.

Coming to a halt, both Rya and her dad stared at Megan. "YOUR WHAT?" yelled Rya.

"It's not my fault though. They forced me to join by death. I haven't been able to tell Chase that. I think he might understand if he heard me on that. But he ran out before I could tell him," Megan explained.

"We'll talk later, Megan," Chief said. "But let's get to Chase before he does something he'll regret." And then they started to run for the tavern again.

Xxxxxx

Laughing evilly, Chase watched as the NTR's pokémon tried to land an attack on his pokémon. But each time, they missed by a mile. And the frustration was showing on both trainer's and pokémon's face.

**"Give it up, and I might let you live," **Chase said, but with Nogitsune taking more control as the battle went on. Chase didn't try to stop Nogitsune. In fact, he was so caught up in the battle; he hadn't noticed that Nogitsune had just about taken over his body.

Starting to lose his cool, Mic yelled, "What is with you, kid?" He sent his Absol in for another attack. This time, Sparks didn't try to dodge. He let Absol tackle him. But at the same time, he released a Thundershock into Absol's chest, paralyzing him instantly.

"This can't be happening!" Miller screamed, as his Zangoose made a leaping lunge for Blaze. Blaze sidestepped the jump attack. And when the Zangoose landed, Blaze lit it up by using a combination of Ember and Bite. Since Zangoose couldn't escape the fire, he fell to the ground, defeated.

**"That's two down, one to go. Then it'll be Shadow's turn,"** Chase/Nogitsune declared. At this, Shadow started to grin darkly. He knew his time was coming.

"What do you mean, one to go, then his turn. One more, and we're done," Busch asked nervously.

**"The name is Nogitsune. At one time, I was a powerful pokémon for NTR. But they killed me two years ago,"** Nogitsune declared to the crowd watching the fight.

"And they killed my parent's," Chase's voice said, without any Nogitsune backup.

**"Oh the fight doesn't end with the battle. I've been waiting for this for a long time. The Master is the one who ordered YOU to kill me two years ago, Busch. And I'm going to ****return the favor!" **Nogitsune declared.

Xxxxxx

"Did I just here right?" Chief said, as his group finally showed up.

Caught off guard, Adam said, "Yes. Apparently, there is a pokémon spirit inside of Chase. One that was murdered by NTR, and that spirit is seeking revenge. And since Chase is also seeking revenge, their lust for vengeance has brought those two together."

"So how do we stop him?" Leta asked nervously. She started to worry if this spirit was going to keep the Chase she had come to know locked inside of himself.

Eyeing his pokéballs, Adam said, "Very carefully.

Xxxxxx

"You're not going to kill me! You can't. Not even the strongest one on your team can stop my Houndoom." Then, Houndoom rushed Aquis, getting ready to use the same combination it saw Blaze use. But with his own twist.

**"Mere mortal, don't you understand the laws of the elements. Fire is WEAK against water. And yet you attack him?!****"** Aquis immediately launched a water stream into Houndoom's direction. But Houndoom had expected this, and dodged the attack barely. Closing in, and with fangs bearing, Chase watched as Houndoom got close enough to Aquis. Chase smirked and Houndoom landed his attack, and then Aquis' body disappeared into a fine mist.

"What is this?!" Busch yelled out, confused. His Houndoom was equally confused.

**"Isn't water fun? It can change it's structure giving the right circumstance. It can even sneak up on you as a mist before attacking." **As Nogitsune said this, the mist cloud started to concentrate behind Houndoom. As Aquis emerged, a smirk appeared on his face. **"Finish him off!"** Aquis obeyed by biting down onto the surprised dogs muzzle, and spraying it with it's water gun attack. He didn't drown the fire dog, just enough to make him faint, though.

"This can't be. Beaten by a single kid," Busch said wide eyed, slowly inching his way back to the crowd.

**"Oh no you don't. Shadow, restrain this lowlife!"** Shadow smirked a bigger smirk. This was his time. As he rushed the fleeing thug, his body started to glow bright white. **"That's it. Feel the rage take over your body. Let it free and release it on the one responsible!" **The glowing figure changed shape, as it leaped up and knocked Busch to the ground. As the glowing disappeared, a new shape came to light.

"His Eevee evolved into an Umbreon!" gasped Megan.

Adam noticed something different about this Umbreon. "But this Umbreon is different. See the rings. There not yellow like ordinary Umbreons. His are red! Must be from all the rage those two have been feeling and being teamed up with that pokémon spirit."

"Where have I heard the name Nogitsune before?" asked Chief, mainly to himself.

**"This will be the day that NTR learns not to mess with us. They will soon realize in their own time, that they are going to be destroyed!"**

"Now I remember," Chief yelled. "Nogitsune was a mythological fax spirit that caused mischief. But also, some spirits were so mischievous, that they were actually evil. I guess that having been murdered, it caused this poor spirit to embrace the myth's character, and it's been searching for a way to enact its revenge on those responsible."

"So, this spirit that has taken over our Chase, isn't evil?" Rya asked.

"Not, I don't think so. I just think its vengeful. And since Chase has also a vengeance against NTR, their team up seemed reasonable to both Chase and Nogitsune. However, if Chase lets Nogitsune go for too much longer, he might end up killing someone." At this, Leta gulped and stared at Chase.

**"Finish him off Shadow," **Nogitsune said. Shadow grinned evilly, and prepared to sink his fangs into the throat of Busch.

"NO YOU DON'T! DRAGONBREATH!" A flame appeared out of nowhere as Shadow was knocked off Busch, right before his fangs made contact.

**"YOU! HOW DARE YOU INTERFERE! I TOLD YOU THIS WAS MY FIGHT!"** Nogitsune raged. Shadow also eyed the Salamence that Adam had released to _save_ Busch.

"Let them go to prison, Chase. Yes, I agree that they deserve death. But not at your hands alone. There are more crimes that they are guilty of and that they have to pay for." Adam said, hoping to get through to Chase.

**"But they murdered me, **and are responsible for my parents' disappearance. **This is my revenge.****" **Chase said to Adam.

"Then," Adam sighed, seeing that he wasn't getting through, "you'll have to beat me to kill them."

Seeing that Adam had Chase's and Nogitsune's attention, Chief came up with a plan. "Leta, Rya, and Megan. I think we are only going to have one shot at this. As long as Chase is distracted, when need to get the NTR thugs out of harms way. And then we'll arrest them and hide them from Chase at the station."

**"What did you have in mind?"** Nogitsune asked his new challenger.

"A one round battle. My Salamence, versus whatever of yours."

**"I'll let you know this. Chase has been dreaming of challenging you for a while now,"** Nogitsune said, teasing Adam.

"Then let him battle me. Not you, Nogitsune."

**"Very well. But you will still lose."** Then Chase's body seemed to go limp for just a second as Nogitsune released control of Chase and Chase caught himself. "Let's do this," Chase said, unaware what has been going on was what Nogitsune had started, for he thought it was all him.

As Chase and Adam started their battle, Megan, Leta, and Rya crept their ways up to the NTR thugs. Leta reached Miller as he just sat, completely shocked at what was happening. When Leta reached out and tapped him, Miller flinched. "If you want to get out alive," Leta whispered, "you'll follow me and not ask any questions." Miller nodded his head thankfully. He followed her until they had gotten to where Chief had called for a police van. The other two met similar responses. However, Busch was rubbing his neck, feeling where Shadow was about to sink his fangs in. He was almost sure that the fox had actually left some scratch mark with his teeth.

As Chief slapped the cuffs on the three thugs, he said, "You three are under arrest for crimes against humans and pokémon, and attempted kidnapping." He slammed the back of the van shut as it started to roll away from the scene. "Now how do we take care of Chase?" he asked out loud, not to any one in particular.

"YOU BRING SALAMENCE DOWN SO HE CAN FIGHT FAIRLY!" Chase yelled, still unaware that the fight he was fighting was useless.

"Why?" Adam asked. "If he can fly, he can't be harmed. Unlike your Umbreon, he is untouchable. But Shadow is. Dragonbreathe!" At this command, a flame roared from Salamence and headed for Shadow. Shadow smirked as his eyes glowed a dark red, freezing the attack in its tracks.

"You can bring him down, or Shadow will send the attack back as a present," Chase said laughing. Adam saw that he was in no position to negotiate.

"Come down Salamence," Adam said with a sigh.

"Should have stayed in the sky," Chase said, as Shadow released the Dragonbreathe attack on Salamence anyways. The attack struck the dragon with a fierce blow. Salamence growled at Shadow. "Give it up, **you're not going to win.** This battle is mine!"

"I told you I wanted to fight Chase, Nogitsune," Adam said furiously at Nogitsune. But he saw something behind Chase, and smiled. "Doesn't matter anyway. This battle is over. I WIN!" Adam said as he recalled his Salamence.

"Fool! You lose because you gave up! Not because you say so!" Chase yelled.

"Want to bet on that?" Adam said, smiling and pointing behind Chase.

"What the …" was the last thing Chase said. And the last thing he saw was a large mallet coming from behind him, hitting him square on the head. The last thing Chase heard before falling out of consciousness was Leta whispering sorry.

Xxxxxx

"Well, with NTR behind bars now, we can continue without much interference," Adam said, while carrying an unconscious Chase back to the poke center. As Adam shifted Chase on his shoulders, Chase groaned quietly. "How hard did you hit him?"

"Enough to knock him out," Leta said, hanging her head.

"Oh come on. He'll be fine after a nights rest," Rya said, escorting them back to the center.

"Let's just try to get some sleep. It's been a _very_ exciting day," Megan said, yawning.

Arriving at the poke center, Adam went inside to their room to lay Chase down. The girls stayed outside until Rya left for home. Finally, Megan and Leta walked inside, and saw Adam standing in the visitors' area. "What's wrong?" Megan asked.

"He's talking in his sleep. In two voices. And it seems to be an interesting conversation between the two of them," Adam said, laughing softly.

"I remember Nogitsune saying something about Chase dreaming of battling you. Is he saying anything else about us?" Leta asked.

"Well, I was able to make out a part about Megan, and her being part of NTR. But when Nogitsune said your name Leta, Chase went quiet and didn't say anything," Adam said. "I think we should keep an eye on him tonight. Just to make sure that hit you gave him and all the excitement doesn't hurt him too much."

"Okay, I'll take the first shift then. You two have been up longer than me," Leta said. With that, Adam and Megan went into the other room and got ready for bed. Leta walked into Chase's room, and sat in a chair close to his bed. She watched him as she listened in on their conversation.

Talking to Nogitsune, Chase asked in his sleep, "I thought you said you'd controllable."

**"I did. As long as you were able to control yourself. Your rage took over, and so did mine. We lost control together."**

"So I need to learn more control, for both of us."

**"Yes. Not only you, but I too. We are in this together. And you can't let her get in our way, either."**

_Which her?_ Leta thought.

"Yes, Megan I have to watch for. Leta isn't going to be a problem. By why did Megan not tell me sooner?"

**"Because she probably thought you'd go off the way I see you did in your memory." **Nogitsune said, laughing at the memory.

"So if you can go through my memory, can I go through yours too?" Chase said, getting annoyed.

**"I know that you know Megan and Adam seem to like each other. My question to you is what do you think of your other friend, since I can't seem to read that part of your memory."**

"Nothing more you need to know, other than she is another trainer who is travelling with us."

Suddenly there was banging on the door. Leta stopped listening to the conversation to check it out. As she opened up, Adam looked like something bad had happened. "What's wrong Adam?"

"Their out! Someone broke into the prison and rescued the NTR thugs. And I think Megan is in danger," Adam said, looking around anxiously. "And she thinks so too."

Leta looked down the hall to see Megan walking out of her door and over to her's. "So what's the plan then?" Leta asked.

Adam looked to Megan for a second. Then said, "She has no family here in Kanto. We agreed that I take her back home in Hoenn. We'll stay there until we feel that she isn't in danger."

"How soon are you leaving?" Leta asked them

"First thing in the morning. Chief already got us emergency passes onto a ship going there. And under different names for our protection," Megan explained.

"Then what about me and Chase?" Leta asked, unsure what to do.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

**Sorry! End of chapter! Okay, not as blood as I originally planned. Actually, no blood if I recall correctly. But a lot of action I think.**

**I have been looking forward to this chapter ever since I started writing this story. Now that ****its done, I think it might get a little easier for me.**

**Well, you know the routine. You read it. Now review it. Whatever you say will encourage me to write more!**


	17. Departure

**I don't own Pokémon, I won't own Pokémon. But I do own this story line and everything that isn't from the series.**

" " - talking; _Italics __–_thinking; ' ' - speaking telepathically

Xxxxxx - break in day or event; Xxxxxxxxxxxx - change of days

Chase - 10 yrs;Leta - 10 yrs; Adam - 13 yrs; Megan – 12; Rya – 9 yrs

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Leta walked into the hallway, carefully closing the door to Chase's so not to make a sound. "So with you two leaving, it's just going to be me and Chase."

Adam nodded his head. "Yeah, just the two of you. I'm sure that Chase will take care of you. He seems to be a caring kid, as long as he doesn't lose it. We're leaving on the 8 o'clock ship out of here."

Xxxxxx

A shadow moved across the floor from the window and up onto the bed. The shadow smirked as it stalked its prey. It came within inches of its prey's face. 'Chase, you up yet?' Seeing no response to the question, the shadow climbed up on Chase and sat on his chest. 'Chasey, wake up,' still seeing no response, he decided to try something new. 'CHASE, IF YOU DON'T GET UP, RYA WILL COME IN HERE AND DRAG YOU OUT!'

Chase sat straight up in bed, looking for the source of the threat. He blinked his eyes a few times and finally rested them on a shadow in front of him. _What the …_

'About time you wake up, Chase,' the shadow said. He could see a confused expression on Chase's face. 'You don't remember, do you?'

"Remember what? And who are you? Where's Shadow?" Chase asked, looking around the room.

'Why Chase, I am Shadow,' he said, as the confused look still remained. 'Wow, she must've hit you harder than we thought. She really knocked you out of it.'

Suddenly, the name Shadow clicked in Chase's brain. "SHADOW, YOU EVEOLVED!" he exclaimed as he grabbed the Umbreon and hugged it.

'Easy Chase,' Shadow said, gasping for air. 'Can't breathe.'

"Oh, sorry Shadow. So what happened that I can't remember last night. The last thing I remember was," Chase paused, thinking back, "that I went into a tavern to confront NTR. WAIT, where are they?" He jumped out of bed and threw on his clothes. Before Shadow could stop him, Chase ran out of the room.

_Great, this is going to be fun when he sees Megan,_ Shadow thought, as he ran after Chase.

Xxxxxx

"So do we go wake up Chase before you two leave?" Leta asked Adam.

"Nah, let him sleep. Who knows how hard you hit him," Adam said, chuckling. "Or how long that Nogitsune is going to have control of him. But I'm sure that he'll come out of it before too long. But when he comes to, he might act a little different."

"But I wonder what else Nogitsune knows about NTR. I mean, he seemed to have read Chase's mind when he said that he had been itching to fight you, Adam. What else does he know?" Megan asked.

"Don't know. To be honest, as long as Chase comes out alright, I don't really care what he knows. As long as they don't kill each other," Adam said.

"Wait, you guys hear that?" Leta asked, as she turned to the stairway. Out from the stairway, came a young kid followed by an odd looking Umbreon. "CHASE! Your awake!"

Chase stopped in his tracks when he saw the group. But when his eyes landed on Megan, he felt his blood start to boil. His memory kicked in a little more as he stared at her. He remembered her saying she was part of NTR. "You," he hissed.

"Chase," Leta said nervously, seeing Chase about to lose it again. "It's not what you think. She wasn't really a part of them."

"Lie. How can you not be part of them, even after she said so," Chase hissed at Leta. Then to Adam, "How dare you keep something like that from me." Then finally to Megan, "Traitor."

"Listen," Leta said. "You don't understand. She was forced to join by her death."

"What do you know of death? I died when my parents went missing. I have only become alive again when I started this journey, after I vowed to find out what happened. And with a NTR agent so close and not realizing, this whole thing was probably a set up. How do I know you Leta, you yourself, wasn't a part of this?" Chase asked angrily towards Leta.

"But it's the truth Chase," Megan said. "NTR threatened to kill me if I didn't become one of them after I accidently discovered their secret base when I was nine."

"Another lie," Chase hissed through his teeth.

"What would it take for you to understand?" Adam asked, barely believing that this was going on.

"Nothing that you can do, lover boy. I'm sick of all the lies going on here. Come on Shadow, we're leaving." Chase then turned, and walked towards the door. When he got to the door, he saw that Shadow wasn't following him. "I said we're leaving."

'No, I'm not. Not until you see what actually happened,' Shadow said.

Leta blinked. "Did everyone else hear that?" Both Megan and Adam shook their heads. "Shadow?"

'Yes, I can speak to you humans telepathically,' Shadow said to Leta.

"So, can you also read minds?" she asked him.

'Actually, yes I can. As long as the person's mind is open to being read.'

_That gives me an idea,_ Leta thought. "Chase, if you have Shadow link Megan's mind to yours, will you believe her then?"

"How do I know that isn't a trick?" Chase asked unsure.

'Because I wouldn't do that to you, Chase. Why alter something that doesn't need to be altered. So, shall we do this?' Shadow asked, as he jumped into a chair beside Megan.

"If it pleases you, Shadow, then fine." Chase walked to a chair beside Shadow. But as he passed Megan, he said in a voice low enough only for her to hear, "This better not be a trick. Or you'll end up in trouble."

'Alright, let's get this started!' Shadow said, as his eyes started to glow a bright red, linking both Megan's and Chase's minds.

_Flashback_

"It's such a beautiful day out, Megan. Why don't you take Draco out and go play?" Megan's father said.

A little girl about nine years old came running out of the living room. "Okay, Draco, come on! Let's go play outside!" A little Dratini followed her out of the room and out the door before Megan could make it.

As she and Draco ran outside, her father yelled out, "Don't stay out too long, Megan. Supper will be ready in a few hours!"

Megan found herself and Draco walking through a forest. She had gotten lost, and Draco couldn't find a way out. They soon found what appeared to be a small house in the forest. They knocked on the door, and got no response. Megan turned the door handle and swung the door open. Inside, they saw nothing. Megan started to have a bad feeling, but Draco wandered in and fell down a trap hole under the rug in the room. "DRACO!" Megan shouted, as she followed the Dratini down the hole.

They both came to an abrupt stop at the bottom of the hole. And they saw something that would change their lives forever.

A dark man looked up when he heard the two thumps. Seeing that he had intruders, he yelled, "RESTRAIN THEM!" Two other younger dark men restrained Megan and Draco. After tying her into a chair, and throwing Draco into a cage, the dark man smirked evilly. "You know, that Dratini evolves into Dragonair men. So get rid of that brat, we don't need her."

_Get rid of the brat_?! "NO! You give me back my Dratini right now! Or you'll be sorry!" Megan shouted.

"Or what, brat. You die, and nothing will happen to us. No one even knows we are here. So how can you be sure we'll be sorry?" the dark man asked.

"'Cause my dad is the chief of police in the next town," Megan lied.

_Well, my men have been lazy about getting rid of evidence lately. And I do need more agents._ "Fine, how's about a deal?" the dark man said. "Die, and we keep your Dratini for us. Or join Neo Team Rocket, live, and I'll let you keep your Dratini."

"Are those my only choices?" Megan asked nervously.

"Oh, and if you decide to join us, you are NOT to contact you family. And you will be watched over carefully to be sure of that," the dark man said, smirking evilly.

_Oh, I'll find a way out of this. And a way to destroy you._ "Fine. I'll join you. Now give me my Dratini back."

"Good choice, kid. Release the dragon," as the dark man said this, his men let Draco back out of the cage.

Draco looked up at Megan with tearful eyes. Whispering, Megan said, "We'll find a way out. I promise."

_End Flashback_

As Shadow's eyes started to fade, Chase hung his head. As he sat there, Megan, Leta, and Adam watched him carefully. "What's going on now?" Leta asked after a few minutes passed.

Within Chase's mind, he confronted Nogitsune. "I thought you said you didn't know Megan?"

**"I said I didn't recall her. Why do you bring this up again?"**

"Because in that flashback from Megan, I saw you. A larger than ordinary Eevee was in that little house in the forest. But do you remember that day that we just saw?"

**"Actually, yes I do. But that was the last I saw that girl. Amazing that she is still alive. At first, I thought she'd do something crazy and get herself killed."**

"So what I saw was correct then, right?"

**"Yes, that vision was correct. Shadow, nor Megan, altered that memory. She's safe to trust."**

"Good. Now here comes the hard part," Chase sighed. Chase raised his head, and saw no one around him. _Shoot, what happened now?_ He approached the counter at the Center. "Uh, excuse me, Joy? Did you see where my friends went?"

"Yeah, they mentioned something about being late for the boat," Joy said.

Chase bolted for the door, while yelling back, "Thanks!"

Xxxxxx

"Shouldn't we have waited for Chase?" Leta asked.

"It was wait and miss the only ship home, or leave him and catch the ship. Besides, I'm sure he'll be there when you get back," Adam said.

"Well, be seeing you soon Leta," Megan said, waving goodbye as she and Adam boarded the ship. "And take care of Chase!"

"HAHA! I will, Megan. Bye big brother. See you soon!" Leta yelled out, waving. Soon, the ship started to pull away from the dock, and depart the port.

"WAIT! YOU CAN'T GO YET!" Chase yelled as he made his way to the dock beside Leta. _Shoot, I'm too late!_

"Hey, look," Adam said to Megan.

"It's Chase!" Megan said, surprised. Then she yelled out, "BYE CHASEY!"

"LATER MAN!" Adam yelled.

"LATER GUYS! SORRY MEGAN FOR NOT BELIEVING YOU!" Chase yelled back. He stood there, waving alongside of Leta until the ship was barely visible on the horizon. Turning to Leta, he asked, "What do you want to do now?"

"Continue _our_ journey," she said.

"Okay, on to Celadon City!" Chase exclaimed, missing the tone of Leta's voice, as she sighed and hung her head.

Xxxxxx

Walking out of Viridian City, Chase and Leta continued their journey for Celadon on the route that would lead them to Rock Tunnel. While they walked, they were amazed at how many pokémon there were, but no sign of a trainer. Chase's Shadow and Leta's Pikachu ran ahead of the two and played in the thick grass. Before they knew, they could see Rock Tunnel up ahead.

"What's that?" Leta asked, pointing to the tunnel.

"That, Leta, is Rock Tunnel. It's another cave system that we _have_ to go through in order to get to Celadon. There is no other way to get there," Chase said, as he saw Leta start to shake at the thought of caves again.

"I don't want to go through a cave," Leta pouted.

"Weeell, there are plenty of strong pokémon in there. SO we could use that practice for our next coming gym battle. And plus, I want to see you get over this fear of caves. I'll show you there is nothing to be afraid of," Chase said with a smile.

"I don't …" Leta started.

"HEY!" came a voice from the grass. Both Chase and Leta looked at each other. "Who's the one who owns that Umbreon?"

"I am," Chase replied, sensing a battle.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I meant the Pikachu," a kid said, emerging from the grass. "Want to battle?" he asked, looking to Leta.

"Sure. Who you using?" Leta asked.

"My Golbat," he said, as he released his pokémon. The Golbat looked at Leta, then to the kid with a confused look. The kid just nodded his head.

"Alright, go Pikachu!" Leta said, as her Pikachu took the field.

_Ah man, I really wanted to fight someone today_, Chase thought. _But she needs the practice just as much as I do._

"Golbat, wing attack!" The Golbat rushed in and tried to hit the Pikachu with its wings at high speeds, but the Pikachu jumped up at the last possible second and landed on Golbat's back.

"Thundershock Pikachu!" Pikachu smiled as it shocked the Golbat out of the air and jumped of its back. The Golbat recovered before it landed on the ground, and returned to the air.

"Confuse ray!" Golbat's eyes glowed as Pikachu's body also glowed for a moment. After the glowing stopped, Pikachu was unable to see straight, and was wobbling all over the place. But Pikachu was smiling. _Odd,_ thought the kid, _what's up?_ "Use bite!" The Golbat looked happy at this command, as it flew in to take a bite of Pikachu. But as it did so, you could say it took a bigger bite than it should have, as Pikachu shook the confusion off and sent a thiudershock through Golbat's fangs, and through the rest of his body. The Golbat fell to the ground, and didn't get back up.

"YAY! I win!" Leta exclaimed, as she jumped up and down.

"Great job," the kid said. "I'll be seeing you later, girl." Then the kid walked off.

_Oh no he didn't,_ Chase thought as he pulled out Sparks' ball and released him. "Shock him," Chase said, as Sparks obeyed. The kid ran off as soon as he was shocked and knew where it came from. Then Chase turned to Leta, and saw an angry look on her face.

"What was that for?" she asked angrily.

"Letting him know you're off limits. That's all," Chase said as he walked past her, leaving her with a mix of feelings.

_He cares? _she thought.

After walking a little more, they came to the opening of Rock Tunnel. It was getting darker, and Leta decided for them that they were going to rest for the night. As Chase was setting up the sleeping bags, Leta cooked the food for supper. Before supper was ready, they heard footsteps running fast in their direction. They looked up to see Rya running toward them.

"What's up?" Chase asked her once she made it to their camp.

"It's my dad. He's one of them," she said between breathes.

"What do you mean, 'one of them'?" Leta asked.

"I caught him on a phone call." Rya started to explain what happened.

_Flashback_

Rya thought she heard someone talking in the kitchen as she tried to sleep in her room. She snuck out and carefully walked to the kitchen. She listened in as she heard more voices, coming from the videophone.

"Everything is taken care of, Mother and Father. Those three are back out of jail, and are going to capture the kid with the Eevees and take him to you," Chief said.

"Good. No one else will know that NTR is still in Kanto. Then when we have him in the fold, we can continue our plan," Mother said.

"Make sure to tell those three that this is their last chance. And that they are not to make contact until they have captured him," Father said.

"Yes, Mother and Father," Chief said, as the screen went blank.

_I have to do something,_ Rya thought, as she crept back to her room, and gathered her things. _ I'm leaving, and never coming back,_ Rya thought, as she grabbed the pokéball that her dad had given her a few years ago. _Growlie, we have to find them._

_End Flashback_

"I knew he wasn't as right as he portrayed," Leta said.

"And yet another twist in my life," Chase sighed.

"But me and my Growlie are here to help you guys," Rya said as she released her Growlie, a Growlithe. "Oddly enough, it was a gift from my dad a few years ago."

Then there was silence between the three. "So those three are out, and this time after me?" Chase asked after a while.

"Yeah," Rya sighed.

_This is getting to be too good, _Chase thought.

_**But we know what their plan is, so that gives us the advantage,**_ Nogitsune thought to Chase.

_True._

_Xxxxxxxxxxxx_

**Well, this chapter is finally done. YEE-HAW! **

**I'm glad that those who are leaving me a review are enjoying this. But if you have a suggestion, or notice something wrong, PLEASE let me know so I can fix or ****not make the same mistake again.**

**CEM, notice I took your advice?**


	18. Of Rocks and Grasses

**I don't own Pokémon, I won't own Pokémon. But I do own this story line and everything that isn't from the series.**

" " - talking; _Italics – _thinking; ' ' - speaking telepathically

Xxxxxx - break in day or event; Xxxxxxxxxxxx - change of days

Chase - 10 yrs;Leta - 10 yrs; Rya – 9 yrs

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

The morning sun had started to rise into the sky as Rya started to move in her bag. As she rolled over, she saw Chase kneeling beside Leta, with a mischievous smile on his face. _I've never seen Chase __look so mischievous. I wonder what he's up to._ As she got up, she cracked a stick that was right beside her.

Chase snapped his head up to the source of the sound, with his smile completely dissolved. Seeing that it came from Rya, he let the smile come back on his face. "Want to help me with a problem that I got?" he whispered.

"Uh, what kind of problem?" she asked, a little unsure because of his smile.

"Well, you see, Leta here is afraid of caves. She's afraid because her parents almost died in a cave in. My plan is to haul her inside, and _then_ wake her up. She'll have no choice then to travel through it," Chase explained, on the verge of busting out in laughter.

_This isn't Chase at all,_ Rya thought. _It must be that Nogitsune, since fox spirits are often __mischievous__. But this might be fun…_ "Sure Chase, I'll help you." The two of them picked up the two ends of Leta's sleeping bag, and carefully carried her into the cave.

Xxxxxx

"Leta, Leeeta…" Chase quietly whispered, while gently poking Leta in the side. He had his mischievous grin on his face again. Although he knew what was going to happen, he wanted to do this, to help her get over her fears. And also because there were other cave systems in the other regions where dragons roamed.

"I don't think this was really a good idea," Rya said.

"Oh, don't worry," Chase said. "We got her half way through with her sound asleep. She has no choice now but to walk her way out. And plus, this is the only way to get to Celadon."

"Alright, if you think so. But you do know what's going to happen when she wakes up, right?" Rya asked.

"Yeah, she'll chase me around until she's out of the cave, see's a cute pokémon, or sees a dragon pokémon," Chase said. Then he thought for a moment, "She just might chase me for as long as we're in this cave. Well, time to wake sleeping beauty up!" Chase knelt down beside Leta again. "Leta, time to wake up."

Leta opened her eyes slowly. Since she couldn't see much light, she rolled over and mumbled something. Chase poked her again. "Let me sleep a little while more," Leta moaned. Chase gently shook her. Leta jumped out of her bag and started yelling. "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LET ME SLEEP?!"

"Because," Chase said recovering from the outburst, "we need to continue on with our journey. And we're like halfway to Celadon."

As she listened to Chase talk, Leta finally took a look around her. Then she got an uneasy feeling, and she collapsed to the ground. "Told ya that it wouldn't work like you planned," Rya smirked.

"Ahh, come on Leta. Your only halfway through." Chase knelt down to try to comfort Leta, but before he could say anything else, his head became buried in the ground.

"WOW!" Rya exclaimed. "That was totally awesome!" Rya watched as Leta pulled her mallet off of Chase's head, which was still buried in the ground.

"Now, which way is the quickest way out of this cave, Rya?" Leta asked nervously watching the walls.

"Oh, don't worry. This cave has been recently inspected and guaranteed not to collapse. Unless, of course, a pokémon causes it," Rya said, laughing.

"That isn't funny, Rya. Come on Chase," Leta said as she pulled Chase out of the ground. "You got me into this place, and you're getting me out of here too." She started to push Chase as Rya led the way out of the cave. "You know Chase, you could have just said that the cave was the only way to get to the next town. You didn't have to drag me into a cave."

"I knew it wasn't going to work the way you thought it would, Chase," Rya said.

"Shut up, Rya. That's the second time you've said that," Chase said, while rubbing his pounding head. "Well I did it for a good reason, Leta. Last time, you had no intention of going through Mt. Moon, and I wanted to see you in a cave, after what your brother said. Think of it as conquering your fears, and becoming a stronger trainer."

"Keep talking like that, and you might become a decent Eevee Master," Leta remarked.

Then, they all started to hear a low rumbling sound. All three of them stopped walking to listen for the source of the sound. Out from the side of the tunnel, an Onix appeared. The Onix had a strange mark over its right eye. It stared at the kids, and then attacked.

"RUN FOR IT!" the two girls yelled.

"Never, I fight anyone and anything," Chase mumbled. Making a quick calculation, he grabbed a pokéball off his belt and released a water fox. "Aquis, use water gun!" As the charging Onix continued its rampage, Aquis fired a jet of water in its face. The Onix growled as it felt the water and stopped it's attack. Glancing over his shoulder, he couldn't see the girls at all. _Great, they could be anywhere in this __cave__ now._

"Again, use water gun!" The Vaporeon followed its command and sent a sent a jet of water into the face of the Onix, which now ignored the pain and charged for the Vaporeon. "SHIT! RETREAT!" Chase, Shadow, and Aquis ran for as long as they could until three arms reached out and grabbed the three of them into smaller tunnels. They watched as the Onix steamed past them, not realizing that they were no longer in front of it.

Xxxxxx

Panting heavily, Leta and Rya looked up behind them. And saw nothing. "I thought Chase was right behind us," Leta said.

"I guess he stayed behind to battle that Onix," Rya thought outloud. Then a low rumble started to come back. "Guess it's time to run again," as she started to back up in the opposite direction.

"No more running. I make a stand now!" Leta exclaimed, as the Onix came into view from around a bend. She grabbed for a pokéball from her belt, and as the Onix closed in, she released the pokémon from within.

"Horsea!"

"ARE YOU CRAZY LETA?!" Rya asked in disbelief.

"WATER GUN!" Leta shouted, as the little Horsea shot a stream of water at the charging Onix, stopping it in its tracks

"Wow, I didn't think that would work," Rya commented.

As Leta threw a pokéball, she yelled, "Go pokéball!" The Onix was drawn into the pokéball and shook for a few seconds. Finally, the ball stopped shaking, and dinged. "YAY! I caught an Onix!"

"Great, now let's go find Chase," Rya said, kind of confused at what just happened.

Xxxxxx

"Now that we got you, again, we will take you to our boss," a voice in the shadow said.

"And this time, your pokémon can't help you," a second voice said.

"So what are you going to do, kid," a third voice said, as the three shadows hauled Chase out of the tunnel, tied up. NTR had forcefully put Chase's two eevees back into their balls, and then locked the balls into a box that they couldn't escape out of.

Chase tried to yell a threat back to them, but the only noise that he could muster was a muffled sound, since he had been bound and gagged. _Not this shit again. Where are you two?_

"Let's get out of here before that Onix returns," Busch said.

"Yes," both Miller and Mic agreed.

Xxxxxx

"Where could he have gotten off to?" Leta complained. She wasn't really feeling bad about being in the cave anymore. But she was worried about Chase.

Rya stopped in her tracks ahead of Leta, and motioned for Leta to stop also. "Hear that?" They both listened to the sounds from the cave. They stared to hear voices, and they were growing louder with every second.

"So what are going to do once we get paid?" a voice, that they recognized as Miller, said.

"We're going on vacation after all the trouble this shit here put us through," Busch said.

"They must have Chase," Rya said. "How are we going to rescue him?"

"That's easy," Leta replied, looking at the pokéball of her new team member. "We scare them!" Leta released the Onix, and told it too sneak up on NTR. The Onix nodded its head and went through another tunnel to get on the back side of them.

"What next?" Rya asked, confused.

"Watch and be ready to grab Chase," Leta said.

Xxxxxx

Chase listened to what the NTR thugs were planning, as he started to hear a low rumble. _Great, not again.__ This time I can't fight._ He watched as an Onix slowly came into view from the rear. _Great, that's the same one from earlier,_ he thought, as he recognized the strange mark on its eye. Then, the Onix winked at him. _Huh …?_

Miller glanced back to check on Chase, but what he saw made him scream like a girl. "RUN FOR IT!" The other two looked back as the Onix roared and started to give chase to the three thugs. The three took off so fast, that they dropped Chase, and the box that contained his pokéballs. The Onix steamed past Chase, then stopped when it heard Leta and Rya calling.

"Chase! There you are!" Leta shouted as she saw Chase bound and gagged on the ground. As she untied him, Rya retrieved the box and opened it up. As she did so, every pokéball opened up, and all six eevees came out and surrounded Chase.

"You okay, Chase?" Rya asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Chase replied. "Let's just get out of here before they come back. By the way, whose Onix is that?" pointing to the Onix.

"Mine," Leta said.

"How did that happen? I battled it before I got ambushed by those three," Chase said.

"Well, I guess that after it battled you, it kept on searching. And when it caught up to us, I knew there wasn't a way out, so I battled it. Horsea used …" Leta was cut short by some laughing.

"Your Horsea battled it?" Chase asked.

"Yes, it did," Leta growled. "Are you sure this is the same one?"

"I am," Chase said, pointing to a mark on the eye. "I recognized that mark there." Then he turned to Rya, and gathered his pokéballs from the box in her hands. "Thanks guys, I couldn't do anything after they caught me. They did this job by the book as far as I can tell. That is, until your Onix showed up and scared them silly." Then they all started to laugh.

"Rya, how far until we're out of this cave?" Leta asked,

"About an hours' worth of walking. I used to travel through this cave all the time when I got out here," Rya said.

"So, still afraid of caves?" Chase asked.

"Not so much," Leta answered.

"Good, because some dragon pokémon are only seen in caves. That's why I wanted to get you into this cave. Well, glad to see that you're not as afraid," Chase said, as he started to walk off.

"Uh, Chase," Rya said, "the exit is in this direction," while pointing in the opposite direction.

Quickly turning around, he said, "Yeah, I knew that." And it wasn't long before they made their way out of the tunnel, with Celadon city in view.

Xxxxxx

"Great, another plan ruined by that Onix," Miller scoffed.

"How are we going to catch that kid?" Mic wondered aloud.

"In due time, we will catch him. We just have to wait for the opportune moment," Busch said calmly, watching the fire blaze.

Xxxxxx

As they three made their way into the center, Chase said, "Let's get some sleep before we go and battle the gym leader tomorrow, Leta. Even though we may have a type advantage over this leader, she is very talented."

"What does she specialize in?" Leta asked.

"She specializes in …" Rya started, by Chase covered her mouth.

"She'll find out tomorrow. She should be able to figure it out just by walking up to the gym. Understand?" Chase asked. Rya glared at him, and then nodded her head. "Good! See you two tomorrow!" Then Chase closed his door, leaving Leta and Rya in the hall.

"You'll tell me, won't you?" Leta asked.

"No, I can't," Rya said, while shaking her head yes, and pointing toward their room. A smile crept across Leta's face.

_Don't think you can outsmart us girls, __Chasey_ Leta thought to herself.

'You honestly think that Rya isn't going to tell Leta what Erika specializes in?' Shadow asked Chase.

"No, I know that Rya is going to tell. It's just human nature that when a person knows something, they will tell someone if they think it will help that person," Chase said.

'So why not tell her yourself?'

"Because, I want it to look like …" Chase paused for a moment.

'How much you care for her. So much, that you won't tell her, so that she has to learn and become stronger herself. Is that why, because you care about her?'

"No," Chase said, turning his back to Shadow. "Because I want it to look like I'm trying to help her think on her own, because that's what friends do"

'Rriigghhtt.'

"I heard that!"

'Hehe!'

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

"Here you go, Chase," Erika said, as she handed Chase a badge. "As a symbol for your accomplishment here, I award you with this Rainbow Badge. I can tell that you and your team have a strong bond. I hope that your team never lose that fire that I can see in your eyes, and theirs," she said, pointing to Shadow and Blaze.

"Well thanks, Erika. I'll be seeing you soon enough again!" Chase said, as he made his departure from the gym. "Great, now all there is to do is to get back to the center, and bring Leta back here."

'And what if she's mad like that other time you did this?' Shadow asked.

"She'll get over it. Remember, she has a Charmeleon, if she knew ahead of time that that is the biggest key she had from the beginning, she wouldn't really have to battle. Now would she?" Chase asked.

'I guess not. But you knew ahead of time. So why give only yourself the handicap?'

"Because most trainers _don't _know. And she is _most _trainers. How could I collect all the badges from Kanto without my handicap, because I know all of them. Besides, Rya told her last night anyways. So she's on the same field as me. Double edge sword if you ask me, since I studied with Prof Oak…" Chase paused again for a moment. "Dang it! I haven't called him for a while!" Then Chase and Shadow took off for the center to make a phone call.

Xxxxxx

"Wake up Chase!" Leta yelled through the door.

Rya walked out and watched Leta for a few minutes. "That's not going to work. Chase left early this morning to battle Erika."

Leta stopped pounding on the door. "He did what? This is the second time he's done this to me! Wait until I find him! I'll make him not want to battle without me ever again!" Then Leta rushed out of the center, in search of Chase. Just Chase was approaching from the back side of the building, as Leta stormed out the front.

"That was close. She's all mad again," Chase said.

'Think it was something you did?' Shadow asked.

"Yeah, I battled Erika without her there. She seems to hate that when I do it. Even though I've only done it one other time. Oh well, go find Rya, and tell her to come out so we can follow Leta," Chase said.

'Okay,' Shadow said, as he went into the center. 'Rya, we're back!'

"And Leta has gone out in search of the two of you," Rya said.

'Yeah, we kind of saw that,' Shadow said. 'So, any idea where she went?'

"Probably to find Chase," Rya said.

"But she'll end up at the gym," Chase said. "So let's go wait for her there."

"Okay," Rya said.

Xxxxxx

"Geez, I've looked all over the city, Pika. And still no sign of Chase or Shadow. What do we do next?" Leta asked her Pikachu. Then she heard a voice from nowhere.

_"Go to the gym. And battle. The one you're looking for will so himself."_

"Who are you?" she asked the voice.

_"Go to the gym."_

"Alright," Leta said. "Hey look over there Pika. There's the gym!" she exclaimed, as she and Pika ran towards the gym.

Once out of earshot, a kid appeared. "Good, she's going." It was the kid that she had battled before going through Rock Tunnel. "Why do I feel like I know her from somewhere?"

Xxxxxx

As Leta headed for the gym door, she saw three figures standing there. It was Chase and Rya, and of course Shadow. "I've been looking all over for you Chase! Why have you been hiding here?"

"Well, I thought you would have come here first. You're the one who's wasted most of the day. Now, let's get inside, so that you can battle Erika and get your badge," Chase said, while pushing Leta through the doors.

"Fine, but you don't have to push. I can walk on my own," Leta said, as she entered the gym. After she entered the gym, she was overcome by all the flowers that were in the gym. "They're so pretty," Leta said, reaching out to the flowers.

"Do you like them?" a voice said. Leta looked up to the source of the voice. "Hi, I'm Erika. And I'm the gym leader her in Celadon. Are you here for a gym battle?"

"Yes I am," Leta said.

"Good, the follow me to the field over here. I had the chance to battle your friend this morning. He is a strong trainer. Are you a strong trainer?" Erika asked.

"I think I can hold my own," Leta replied.

"Good, then what kind of battle format would you prefer?" Erika asked.

"What are you good at?" Leta asked in return.

"A one on one, one round battle. Winner takes all," Erika answered.

"Then let's go that route," Leta agreed.

"Fine. Vileplume, I choose you!" Erika said, as she released her Vileplume.

"A plant type. Just like Rya said. Okay, Charmeleon, go!" Leta said, as Charmeleon came out, ready to battle.

"See, I told you so, Shadow," Chase smirked.

'So you did,' Shadow sighed.

"So wait a sec, you knew I was going to tell her anyways?" Rya asked Chase, confused.

"Yes. Now let's watch the battle," Chase said, focused on Leta.

"Ready, fight!" both Erika and Leta exclaimed.

"Let's start off with a sleep powder, Vileplume!" Erika commanded.

"Charmeleon, use ember now!" Leta said.

Charrmeleon's ember attack burned the powder that Vileplume had launched into the air, and landed on the Vileplume, causing some burns.

"Not bad, kid. But how's this? Body Slam!"

"Use scratch, Charmeleon!"

As the Vileplume rushed Charmeleon, Charmeleon stood its ground waiting to attack. But the mass of the Vileplume overwhelmed it, and it was slammed to the ground.

"Charmeleon! You got to get up!" Leta yelled, as Charmeleon slowly got back to its feet. It growled at the Vileplume, and a new enraged fire glowed in its eyes.

"Wow, haven't seen that look from a pokémon in a long time. Vileplume, use sleep powder again!"

"That didn't work last time, and it won't work this time either. Charmeleon, use ember again."

But instead of an ember attack, Charmeleon shot out a wonderful display of fire from its mouth. The flame disintegrated all of the powder, and found its way to the Vileplume. The Vileplume screamed in pain, as it was engulfed in flames. After the attack, Charmeleon looked a little short on breathe.

"I can't believe it! That was a flamethrower attack! Way to go Charmeleon!" Chase shouted out.

_That was a flamethrower? __Pretty powerful._ "Let's finish this. Charmeleon, use you slam!"

"Vileplume, counter with stun spore!"

However, the spores were useless. Because Charmeleon had leapt up and did a front flip to use its tail for a tail slamming attack. Although he went through the spores, he was already in the motions, and couldn't be stopped. After the dust cleared, an unconscious Vileplume laid beside a panting Charmeleon.

"Good job Charmeleon! Now, for a rest," Leta said, as she recalled her pokémon.

"Impressive attack. I must admit, that last attack was unpreventable once it got going. As your reward, I give you this Rainbow Badge. I hope that I might have the privilege to battle you again someday Leta. Did you know I was going to use that last attack by any chance?" Erika asked.

"I don't really know. I just had a feeling. And that attack was unstoppable at that point. Thank you for such a wonderful battle." Leta turned to her friends who were watching from the sidelines. "So where to now?"

Rya looked up to Chase, and Chase pretended to think for a bit. "Our next stop, is going to be the buffet. I'm _hungry_!" Both girls fell over. "_Then_ after that, we'll head for Fuchsia!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

**So, you've read to this point. You know what to do now? YOU LEAVE ME A REVIEW! Reviews make me happy. And a happy author is a better writer. ****So make me happy, leave a review!**

**Now, time to thank some of my reviewers!**

**LiliNeko**** – Thanks for keeping me motivated. I don't think I could have gotten this done as soon as I did without you! Thanks!**

**CEM – You have wonderful ideas, and I like to use ideas that are good. Keep '****em**** coming and you'll see more action!**

**MountainDude**** – I would like to thank you for giving me the idea of having Shadow, the Umbreon, have the ability of communicating with the humans from you story. Thanks dude!**

**CV – You always have something funny to say. And that keeps me in a good mood. Thanks buddy!**

**I'm going to start doing this more often. So leave a review, and I'll recognize each and every one of ****ya****! Later!**

**NOW PLEASE ME A REVIEW! DON'T MAKE ME BEG! ****Haha****, just playing.**** I won't beg you to. Just do it!**


	19. The Calm and The Storm

**I don't own Pokémon, I won't own Pokémon. But I do own this story line and everything that isn't from the series.**

" " - talking; _Italics – _thinking; ' ' - speaking telepathically

Xxxxxx - break in day or event; Xxxxxxxxxxxx - change of days

Chase - 10 yrs;Leta - 10 yrs; Rya – 9 yrs

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Chase woke up and looked out the window in his room. He had travelled all over Kanto with his pokémon and his two friends. Now, he was back in Pallet, making his final preparations before he went to go fight Gary for his last Kanto Gym badge. _It's only 4:30?_, Chase asked himself. He got out of his bed and snuck out of the guest house that Prof Oak had let him, Leta, and Rya use.

After their arrival back in Pallet a week ago, he found himself feeling calmer than he had ever felt, even before he started his journey. He and his friends hadn't fought against Neo Team Rocket ever since that time in the cave where Leta had caught her Onix. And having grown accustomed to sleeping on the hard ground, sleeping in a comfortable bed just didn't feel right. Chase found himself lying on the grass outside of the guest house staring at the sky predawn sky. He was almost asleep when a familiar voice came up from the lab.

"Woke up early again, I see," a man with graying hair said. Chase looked up, and saw Prof Oak walking up to him. So he sat up and nodded. "You know, it's been pretty quiet since you left. But I'm glad that you were able to complete you journey in high spirits."

"Well," Chase said, "I found out some things on my parents. One, the ones taking care of me were really my adopted parents."

"Oh," Prof Oak said, raising an eye brow.

"My so called 'parents' weren't on the ship that went down either. Too many things aren't adding up." Chase said with a sigh.

"Well, I know this isn't probably something I should say," Oak started, "but have you thought that _they_ might be part of NTR?"

"Actually, that has run across my mind a few times. Although I don't want to think that is true, I don't have anything saying that isn't what they really were. And you know that they were always on their "vacations'. Maybe those were just cover ups for their real activities." Chase sighed again and stared at the stars. After a few minutes, Chase jumped up and exclaimed, "But I know one thing, no matter what, I'm still going to be the greatest Eevee Master the world has ever seen!"

"Good for you, Chase!" Oak said, patting Chase on the shoulder. "You should get back to training, you know. My grandson isn't that easy to beat." Oak started to chuckle to himself as he left Chase to go back into his lab.

After the prof had left, Chase stared back up to the stars again. _I wonder if I'll ever know the truth about my past. It seems like it was all a lie. My __parents__ were really my adopted parents. And __they__ had several secret activities that not even the __prof__ knew about. Could they really be part of NTR?_ Chase continued to star at the stars, until the sky started to lighten up. _Looks like it__'__s go__ing to __be daylight soon._ With a sigh, Chase stood up and reentered the guest house.

As he passed the room that Leta and Rya were sleeping in, he paused for a moment. _She's been there from the beginning. She pretty much knows as much as I do. I wish that she didn't have to be involved. It__'__s not her problem._

'True, it's not her problem,' a voice in Chase's head said. Without even looking up, he could tell that Shadow was there. 'But she followed you and helped you when you needed it. And so has Rya. Believe it or not, but they've made you into a better person, Chase.'

"Yeah, you're right, Shadow. But it's something that I wish she _didn't_ have to be part of. Both of them," Chase said, looking at the door.

**"They haven't attacked for the last two months. You think they've giving up?"** another voice said in Chase's head. And Chase knew without a doubt who it was.

"I don't think so, Nogitsune. Your right, it has been two months. But let's not talk about it. I actually enjoy the peace without them interrupting it," Chase said.

"**But when do we go after them?**" Nogitsune asked.

"After, we get stronger," Chase said in a stern voice. "We could barely fight against them the last we fought. The only way we got away from them was that they got scared silly when Leta's Onix surprised them." Chase could feel Nogitsune sigh deeply within his head. "I'm going to leave a note here on the table for the girls. Come on, Shadow. We need to go train some more. We got two days before Gary is supposed to be back in Viridian, so I want to train as hard as we can until then." Then Chase and Shadow, along with his other pokémon, left the house to go train.

Xxxxxx

As the sun rose into the sky, the light in the room that Leta and Rya were sharing started to get brighter. The two girls woke up, and walked out of the room heading to the kitchen.

"CHASE! TIME TO GET UP! IT'S MORNING!" Leta yelled as they passed his room, not knowing he wasn't even in the house. The two girls made it to the kitchen, where Rya pulled out some bowls and cereal from the cupboard. And as the two sat down, Leta noticed the note from Chase. It read:

_Sorry girls. _

_I went out again to train. _

_I want to make sure that I can defeat Gary._

_Be back around __early evening_

_Chase_

"Well, who can blame him?" Rya asked. "I've heard from other trainers that he is a tough opponent. Also that he's very passionate about his pokémon and their battles. Of all the Viridian Gym Leaders, he has got to be the best they have ever had." Rya then laid her head down on the table and smiled softly.

"What are you smiling about?" Leta asked.

Rya chuckled. "I wish I was a little older. Because, Gary is just hot!"

"Oh? And what happened to you liking Chase?" Leta asked, a little surprised at Rya's comment.

"Hehe. That was before _you_ came along. He really seems to care about you, even if he doesn't say it," Rya said.

"You really think so?" Leta asked curiously.

Rya pushed herself off the table. "Of course I do! Can't you tell by the way he's helped you become a _decent_ trainer? Or how he told you that that Magikarp that you were going to pass on actually turns into a dragon type after it evolves?" Leta shook her head. "Well then, you are just as dense about this as he is."

After the girls ate their breakfast, Leta stood up and walked to the door. "I'm going to go out and train. I don't want _your_ Gary to beat me. And, then after the gym battles, I'm going to show Chase how much stronger we have become." Then, she walked out, leaving Rya alone in the house.

Chuckling, Rya said, "And they don't even suspect a thing!" Then she got up and left a note on the table saying that she'd be back later that day.

Xxxxxx

In Cerulean, Gary Oak had just gotten off the phone with his gramps. _Looks like the time has finally come._ Gary walked into Misty's gym with a small smirk on his face. Misty saw him, _and _his smirk.

"What's so funny?" Misty asked Gary.

"Oh, nothing. Chase is finally ready to battle the Great Gary Oak. This is probably the only battle that I've been looking forward to. It gets kind of boring beating all those trainers without much more than a twitch of a pinkie." Then Gary held up his pinkie, and twitched it. Both Gary and Misty busted out laughing.

"Well, what about his girl friend, Leta?" Misty asked, reminding Gary that she was going to be there also.

"I'll treat it just like any other battle. But knowing Chase, he's probably helped her train hard, so I might have to beat her as hard as I beat Chase. Heck, he might even be helping her to _train_ right now," Gary said, grabbing a hold of Misty, looking into her eyes.

"Oh, you think so," Misty laughed.

"Oh, I know so. I'd be hitting on that quicker than I could think if I were his age," Gary said with a smirk.

"And what's that suppose to mean?" Misty asked, playing innocently.

"You know exactly what I meant," Gary said as he started to laugh a little, as he bent down to kiss Misty.

Xxxxxx

Rya waited on the dock as a ship pulled up and tied up to the dock. She waited patiently as she waited for the two people that she had come to meet got off the boat. She couldn't find them, not until someone tapped on her shoulder from behind. She turned around quickly to see Adam and Megan, who had both come to see Leta and Chase have their final gym battle.

"So, they know we're coming?" Adam asked.

"Nope. Not a clue," Rya answered.

"Do you think they'll be surprised?" Megan asked Adam.

"At least Leta. I'm not sure about Chase," Adam said. "By the way, what were you trying to tell me earlier Rya?"

"Oh, that I think that I think Chase and Leta have grown together in your absence," Rya said, picking up some of their bags and walking off the dock.

"Can't imagine how that would happen," Megan said.

"Like I didn't see that one coming," Adam laughed at the same time.

Rya stopped walking. "You knew this was going to happen?" Both Adam and Megan sweat dropped as they walked past Rya. "YOU DID!"

"Well, if I said no, would you believe me?" Adam asked, not looking back to Rya.

"No," she responded.

"Then what does it matter what we say?" Megan asked.

"Well," Rya said, trying to find a new angle. "I think you set them up!"

"Maybe we did," Megan said.

"Maybe we didn't," Adam finished.

Rya sighed. _Oi_

Xxxxxx

Leta was walking her way back to the house. As she passed the kitchen window, she looked in, expecting to see Rya alone. But this time, she grew excited, and ran in through the door and leaped into her brother's arms. "ADAM! YOU CAME BACK!" Then she noticed that he wasn't responding. She was hugging him to tight. "Oops, sorry," she said as she released him.

"Nice, to, see, you, to, Leta," Adam said, in between breathes. As he continued to catch his breath, Megan started talking to Leta.

"Oh, I heard about you and Chase. I think it's cute that you too are so close now!" Megan squealed.

Leta started to turn a little red. "Uh, what are you talking about? Me and Chase haven't said anything to one another for like the past week."Megan stared at Leta. "Ever since we got into Pallet, he's left before day break to train. And doesn't return until after dark sets in. To be honest, if it weren't for his notes every morning, I'd think he never comes back."

"So, you've never stayed up, to talk to him when he returns?" Megan asked. Leta shook her head no. "And here Rya has been talking like you two were going steady." They both turned to Rya, who sweat dropped, and made a hasty escape out of the kitchen.

"Well, enough on the two of you. How's your training coming?" Adam finally asked.

"Boys, and their constant thinking of training," Megan joked.

"Well, let's see. I have a Riachu, Gyarados, Charizard, Seadra, Butterfree, and Latias." Leta then released all of her pokémon to show them to Adam and Megan.

As Megan gazed at the Latias in awe, Adam asked, "And how is Chase doing?"

"He's fine. Right now, he has an Umbreon, Flareon, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Eevee, and he just evolved his other Eevee into an Espeon not too long ago. But his Umbreon is the only one that is colored differently," Leta explained.

"Wait," Megan said. "How did you get a Latias?"

"Well, there was this man in Lavender who was looking to give this egg away," Leta explained. "I happened to accept it, and it hatched into a Latias."

"And the best part is," a voice said coming in through the door, "that her Latias thinks that both of us are its parents." Everyone in the kitchen turned to the door to see the source of the voice, except for Leta.

"Chase man, been a while!" Adam said, giving Chase a high five.

"Yup. Everything working out?" Chase asked, taking a side glance to Megan.

"Yeah. Couldn't be better. How are you doing?" Adam asked.

"Not bad. Let's see, I finally completed my team not too long ago," Chase started.

"We know. Leta already told us," Megan said.

"Has she now?" Chase asked, glancing towards Leta, who just avoided eye contact. "Well, then I don't have much more to add. Other than we're going to Viridian tomorrow to finally battle Gary. And boy, is he in for a surprise."

"Alright, then I think its best that we get some sleep," Adam said. Then he and Megan took off for one of the bedrooms.

"Hey guys, there are only two bedrooms," Leta said. Both Adam and Megan stopped and looked back to Leta.

"That's ok, I can sleep on the couch," Chase said.

"Thanks man," Adam said as they continued to the bedroom.

"You sure Chase?" Leta asked Chase, as he went to go lay on the couch.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I just want to get ready for the battle against Gary," Chase said, as he lay down and closed his eyes. "Night Leta."

"Night Chase," Leta said. _Good night, my prince.__ I'll tell you one day._

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

As the group made their way up to the Viridian Gym doors, Adam was busy questioning Leta about her battle strategy. Meanwhile, Chase, Rya, and Megan had taken a step back to watch the events unfold. They entered the gym to see that Gary was on the opposite side of the field waiting for them. And behind Gary, was none other than Misty.

"What are you doing here, Misty? What about your gym?" Chase asked Misty.

"Oh, I heard that you'd be here today, so I took a day off. And don't worry about the gym. I left Ash behind to clean it up while I was gone for the day," Misty said with a smile.

"Well, done to business. Who's going to be my first victim?" Gary asked Chase and Leta.

Before Chase could answer, Leta jumped to the ring. "Your first lost will be mine!"

"If you say so. But, your strategy that you may have thought up is going to be useless," Gary said.

"How so?" asked Leta.

"Because, it's going to be a best two out of three, choosing your pokémon randomly. So luck had better be on your side, because my pokémon are pretty strong," explained Gary. "So, you still ready?"

"Bring it on," Leta said confidently.

"And I shall referee this battle," Misty said, taking the referee's position. "Trainers, select your pokémon. Round one, begin!"

"POKEBALL GO!" Leta and Gary both yelled. Out of Gary's ball came a Exeggutor. And out of Leta's came a Seadra.

"Go, Exeggutor, use Stomp!" "Seadra, Water Gun!" Seadra sprayed the Exeggutor, but the water seemed to just wash off. Once Exeggutor got close enough, it landed a solid stomp on the water pokémon.

"Seadra, use Agility!" "Exeggutor, use Egg Bomb!" The Exeggutor launched its egg bombs, just as the Seadra used its agility to dodge the attacks.

"Use Hypnosis, Exeggutor!" "Seadra, Hydro Pump!" Exeggutor's eyes glowed an eerie purple color as the Seadra attempted to attack, but fell asleep before it could.

Before Gary could call another attack, Leta forfeited the round. "And round one goes to Gary! The score is now 1 to 0! Round 2, ready, GO!" Misty yelled, starting the next round.

""GO!!"" Both Gary and Leta yelled. Out of Leta's ball came a Riachu. And out of Gary's ball, a Pidgeot.

"Pidgeot, use Quick Attack!" "Riachu, Thundershock!" The Pidgeot flew in at a fast speed at Riachu. It struck its target, and made its escape through the clouds. As soon as it reappeared, it was greeted by an electrifying welcome.

"Pidgeot, use Wing Attack!" "Knock it out of the sky with Thunderbolt, Riachu!" As the Pidgeot flew in to make its next attack, the Riachu launched a full out electric attack that sent the Pidgeot tumbling to the ground, and it never recovered.

"Round two, goes to Leta!" Misty exclaimed. "Finally, round three! Ready, GO!"

_Last round, last chance,_ Gary thought, as he threw his last pokéball. And out of the pokéball came his Arcanine.

_I have to win. I can't lose! _Leta thought, as she selected her last pokéball at random. Out of the ball came a pokémon that she had hoped she would get after seeing Gary's Arcanine. Her Gyarados. "Let's finish this!"

"Arcanine, use Extremespeed!" "Gyarados, end it quickly using Hydro Pump!" Before Gyarados could even move, the Arcanine had slammed its body into the water dragon. Then the Gyarados soaked the Arcanine with its hydro pump.

"Finish it with a Hyper Beam, Gyarados!" Gyarados started to charge up its beam attack.

_Shoot, that blast is going to knock me out. Unless…._ "Use Agility Arcanine!" Gary commanded. Arcanine started to run all over the field as the Gyarados launched its Hyper Beam. _Great, now it has to rest for a turn. _"Take Down!"

_Shoot, Gyarados has to recharge. And I can't do anything_ Leta thought, as she watched the Arcanine slam into the Gyarados. Her Gyarados looked down at the Arcanine, disgusted. _Now, it's my turn,_ "Use Twister!"

"Arcanine, use Extremespeed!" Gary shouted. The Gyarados whipped up a twister just as the Arcanine came with striking distance, and flung it against the side of the gym wall, unconscious.

"AND THE WINNER OF THE THIRD ROUND IS LETA!" Misty exclaimed. And then to Gary, "I thought you said that you could defeat her with a twitch of your finger."

"Win some, lose some," Gary said. After he recalled his Arcanine, he walked up to Leta. "As leader of the Viridian City Gym Leader, I hereby present you with this badge," Gary said, as he handed Leta the Earth Badge.

"And now, for the battle that I've been looking forward to for a long time," Gary said, as he turned his head to Chase. "Are you ready for this?"

"As ready as I'm going to be, Oak," Chase said confidently, taking a step to the field. "Same rules?"

"No. I selected a different battle format so that you couldn't build a strategy by having her fight first. This time, it's all out. Six on six. You ready?" Gary asked Chase.

"The question is, are you ready?" Chase said in a cocky tone. Misty, Leta, Megan, Rya, and Adam all stared at Chase.

_This isn't Chase,_ Leta thought. _What's wrong here? He's __been wanting__ to fight Gary for a while, but this is a whole new side of him that I've never seen. _

"So, are **you**?" Chase asked Gary again.

"Yes I am. Let's start this," Gary said, nodding to Misty to start the fight.

_It's Nogitsune. He's taking control, _Leta thought in fear. She looked around, and saw that everyone also noticed the change. Even Misty.

"Alright, let the final battle begin. The challenger, Chase, against leader, Gary," Misty said. "READY?! G…" Suddenly, the roof exploded, and three figures stood on the edge of the opening.

"WHO THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DESTROYING ME GYM?!" an irate Gary demanded.

"WE ARE MEMBERS OF NEO TEAM ROCKET. SURRENDER NOW, AND WE MIGHT LET YOU LIVE," the three figures said from the roof.

**"So, you finally come for me again?" **Chase/Nogitsune asked. Before they had a chance to answer, Chase/Nogitsune yelled, **"WELL, COME AND GET ME!"**

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Okay guys. Sorry for the long wait. Just had school, work, and my team to worry about. I think I've gotten it all straight again.

Yes, I've skipped ahead in the story. This is originally what I had planned, since all journeys through Kanto seem to end up the same anyways.

I'll let your imaginations play with how close Chase and Leta have grown together in our absence.

I know, my battle sequences suck. But, I need to practice to get better, so please bear with me.

So, leave a review and I'll start writing the next chapter as soon as I can, which will be like tonight or tomorrow. I hope that the next chapter has better battle sequences, but, we'll see.

So leave a review, comment, question, whatever. Just leave me something.

LATER!


	20. Chase's Fury

**I don't own Pokémon, I won't own Pokémon. But I do own this story line and everything that isn't from the series.**

" " - talking; _Italics _– thinking; ' ' - speaking telepathically

Xxxxxx - break in day or event; Xxxxxxxxxxxx - change of days

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

"WE ARE MEMBERS OF NEO TEAM ROCKET. SURRENDER NOW, AND WE MIGHT LET YOU LIVE," the three figures said from the roof.

**"So, you finally come for me again?" **Chase/Nogitsune (A/N: from here on in, he will be referred to as C/N) asked. Before they had a chance to answer, C/N yelled, **"WELL, COME AND GET ME!"**

"Fine, we can do that," one of the figures said, as they all jumped from the roof and landed on the ground. One of them stepped forward, and Chase recognized this one as Busch. "You know, you've caused us a lot of trouble. And we plan on defeated you once and for all, kid."

"**Come on, I'll take you all on, and defeat you again**," C/N said. He grabbed two of his pokéballs as the three NTR members pulled out their pokémon. "**Shadow, Sparks, Sunny, I choose you**" C/N said as he released his Jolteon and Espeon, with his Umbreon jumping into the battle.

"Houndoom," Busch said, releasing his.

"Zangoose," Miller said.

"Absol," Mic added.

"Oh no, this is going to be bad," Adam said.

"HOW DARE YOU TEAR APART MY GYM! I'M GONNA BEAT YOU!" an irate Gary said, stepping up to the battle at hand.

C/N released Blaze, his Flareon. Blaze took a position in between Gary and the fight. "**This may be your gym, but they are after me. This is my battle. I will not let you interfere.**" C/N stared coldly at Gary. **_Make your move now, and see what I can really do_.** He didn't see Gary move forward. _**Good boy, now just watch**_. And back to the NTR members, he ordered his pokémon to attack.

After a few hours of non-stop battling, Miller was growing bored. He started to grin as he got an idea. "Zangoose, use agility and shadow claw on the kid!" Everyone gasped in disbelief that such a command would be given. But then again, it is NTR.

"**WHA!!!!!**" C/N said, as he watched the Zangoose smirk evilly, and rush in towards C/N. He tried to brace himself as the Zangoose approached quickly. It happened so fast. So fast that no one could react in time to try to save C/N. C/N's body slammed up against the side of the gym's wall, and went through.

"CHASE!" everyone yelled.

Except for Gary. He started to feel his blood boil. In a low, menacing voice, "How could you? That was such a low level attack. You will PAY!" Gary then released his Alakazam.

"You think that you can take us on, using only one pokémon?" Busch asked, smirking.

"Well, if you wanted me to, I could bring out some more pokémon," Gary said, as he held up two more pokéballs. "But I feel like that would be overkill." Then he paused for a second, then smiled to himself. "In fact, overkill is what you DESERVE!" he said, releasing his other two, A Rhydon and a Gyarados.

"Come on Chase, you got to wake up," Leta said, shaking Chase's body.

"Dude, we need to get him out of here, and to a hospital quick," Adam said, hoping to get Chase out of the gym before it collapses. "Come on, help me get him out." Adam grabbed one arm, and Leta grabbed the other as they pulled his body out of the wall, and out of the gym.

After everyone had made it outside, Misty realized that the gym was really getting ready to fall apart. She ran back inside and saw Gary going at it with NTR. "GARY! THE GYM IS FALLING APART!"

Gary looked around him as he continued to battle. _My gym is falling to pieces. Stupid NTR. They've ruined my gym_. A small pebble hit Gary on the head. He looked up and saw a huge slab of the roof falling down. "ALAKAZAM, TELEPORT!" Alakazam's eyes glowed for a second, before making all of Gary's pokémon, himself, and Misty disappear out of the gym.

They reappeared outside of the gym, and watched the gym crumble to pieces. "Well, I guess I have to rebuild," Gary said with a sigh.

"But at least we got out alive," Misty said.

"I'm not too sure about that. Chase isn't breathing," Adam said, as he looked up to everyone.

"Misty, run to the center, get Joy. HURRY!" Gary said, as he started to do CPR.

"Leta, go with her, you two also," Adam said to Leta, Megan, and Rya.

After the girls took off, NTR emerged from the rubble. "Didn't want the girls to see your defeat?" Too bad, it would have been fun," Miller said, as NTR advanced on the guys.

"WHY YOU!" Adam yelled, as he got to his feet. "I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!" He released all of his pokémon. A Salamence, Swampert, Scizor, Blaziken, Absol, and Metagross all appeared. "HOW DARE YOU PULL AN UNDERHANDED ATTACK LIKE THAT! ATTACK!"

All the NTR members grinned. Along with their Absol, Houndoom, and Zangoose, a new pokémon appeared, a pure black Umbreon, black rings and black eyes. And alongside the new pokémon, a new person. "That's the kid that's been giving you problems?" the new person asked, pointing to Chase. NTR all nodded their heads. "Well, I can't say that I'm all that surprised. After all, that is my son." Everyone froze. NTR, Gary, Adam. Everyone. Except for Chase. His eyes flashed open once he heard the word 'son'.

_No, it couldn't be_. Chase weakly stood up. He stared at the person claiming to be his father. _That man doesn't even look like my father_. "What did you say?" Chase asked.

"You're my son. You see, those people taking care of you weren't your real parents. I was just too busy taking care of NTR to ever be around. But since I've heard that you've been giving my team such a hard time, I figured that it would be time to come see you in person. And I see that your following in my footsteps. Becoming an Eevee trainer." This new person said.

Chase grimaced. _How_… "I'm not you son, you're not my father. So I'm not going to follow in your footsteps. So you can just forget about what ever you've come to say. If you want to battle, then let's do this! Shadow, you ready?"

Bre! _ Yes!_

"Interesting, his name is also Shadow," the man said, motioning to his pure black Umbreon. The Umbreon stepped forward, and glared at Chase's Shadow, and then growled.

"HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME LIKE THIS!" Chase yelled. He released all of his pokémon. Then in a voice that had no trace of Chase in it, "**YOU"LL PAY!"**

"Wait, I know that voice. Is that you, Nogitsune?" the man asked.

Nogitsune was taken aback for a second. "**That is my name. And you're the one ****who killed me. Now I ****remember. I****t**** was you. ****Now, I get to return the favor."**

Laughing, the man said, "He won't let you."

"**Who?**"

"My son. You've possessed my son," the man said.

Then in Chase's voice, "That makes no difference to me. You are not my father. You killed Nogitsune. And you will pay."

"Fine, if you won't believe me in words, let's battle. Shadow, Ultimate Shadow Ball!" the man commanded. His Umbreon charged up a shadow ball that seemed to suck the light out of the sky. "YOUR POKEMON WILL NOT SURVIVE THIS! NONE OF THEM! YOU WILL LOSE!"

_That, that, that_, "NOOOOOOO!!" Chase yelled, as the ball raced towards his pokémon. The ball struck, and exploded all around them. When Chase opened his eyes, his was relieved to see that his pokémon had survived the attack, with nothing on them. Not even a scratch. Then his Espeon fell to the ground. "Sunny!" he yelled as he raced to his Espeon.

"That was Light Screen," Gary said. "It reflected that huge energy ball. The Espeon must be something else."

"No kidding," Adam said, dumbstruck.

"You got lucky with that shot son. But now that your Espeon is gone, you won't avoid this attack again," the man said, as his Umbreon charged up again.

Clutching the Espeon's body, Chase thought,_This isn't what I wanted. I didn't want to put you guys in any harm. I, I, _. . . Then he looked back at the man. "Father or not, you're going down. Thunder, hydro pump, flamethrower, swift, and shadow ball!" Chase commanded. All the attacks combined and went straight to the shadow ball that the Umbreon had been charging.

As the attacks collided, the force of the explosion shot NTR and the man into the sky, where they disappeared, yet again.

"YAHOO! Great job Chase!" Gary and Adam both said excitedly. But their joy went away as Chase fell to the ground again.

Xxxxxx

At the hospital, everyone was in the waiting room. No one said a word once they got there. Chase had been admitted to ER to try to stabilize him. After a few hours, a Nurse Joy appeared. "Chase is doing fine. He's in his room resting. But…"

With those words, Leta rushed passed Joy, and ran to find Chase. She finally found his room after a few minutes, and rushed in. She saw him laying in the bed, sleeping. She sat down in the chair beside the bed, and softly said, "I love you Chase, please don't leave me."

A knock at the door came. Leta didn't say anything. The door opened. In came Joy. "I'm sorry, but visiting hours are over. If you'd . . . ,"

"It's alright, she can stay," Chase said, turning his head to face Joy. "She can stay." Both Chase and Leta watched as Joy turned around and left the room, closing the door behind her.

"So, your awake?" Leta asked softly.

"Nope," Chase responded, laughing a bit.

"So how long before you're out of here?" Leta asked after a few minutes.

"They say a few days. Just to make sure that I'm going to be okay," Chase said laughing.

"So what happened out there?" asked Leta.

"I don't remember. I remember hitting the wall, then nothing. I'm not sure what happened," Chase said, trying to remember. "How are my pokémon?"

"Well, they all took a beating, but they have recovered. But you can go pick them up when you get out," Leta said.

"Why don't you go get them and bring them here?" Chase asked.

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Leta asked.

"No no. I just want to have my pokémon with me," Chase said quickly.

"Okay, I'll go get them for you," Leta said, as she got up. "And don't you go anywhere."

"Does it look like I could?" Chase asked, catching the joke.

"Nope," she laughed. "Alright, be back soon Chase," she said, as she closed the door behind her.

After he heard the click, he sighed, "And I you, Leta."

Xxxxxx

Somewhere in a woods not to far away.

"I thought you said you could beat him, since you're his father," Miller asked, angry at the lost again.

"I never said that. I just said that I would battle him. You took that as me winning. And if you get too hot, I can have Shadow turn you into a statue. So you three better behave," the man said. "We'll just wait for another moment to attack him. We need to get him alone."

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

**Hey, this chap is done. I know, short. ****I know, battle scenes suck.**** And I know, I through in something new. Just wait, you'll see soon enough. Now, you read, you review. **


	21. The Final Battle

**I don't own Pokémon, I won't own Pokémon. But I do own this story line and everything that isn't from the series.**

" " - talking; _Italics – _thinking; ' ' - speaking telepathically

Xxxxxx - break in day or event; Xxxxxxxxxxxx - change of days

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Joy was making her rounds, checking on the patients. She came to Chase's room and sighed. She opened the door, and stared in amazement at the sight before her. "Oh no…"

Xxxxxx

"Chase, they said you shouldn't get out of bed until the end of the week," Leta tried to reason with Chase.

Against the doctor's orders, Chase had gotten out of bed, and left the hospital. He stopped and look at Leta. "By the end of the week, Gary won't be in any mood to fight. He'll want to be rebuilding his gym. And this battle is very important to me." He turned back towards where Gary's gym had once been standing.

But when Chase and Leta got to where the gym was to be, they both stared at the area. It had been one day since the NTR attack had occurred. And Gary already had all the debris removed to rebuild. But instead of rebuilding, Gary had decided to leave his gym as an open air gym.

"What gives Gary?" Chase asked.

"I grew tired of constantly rebuilding. So, as a cheap alternative, I've decided to have an open air gym," Gary said, looking over his bare gym. Then to Chase, "Are you ready to battle me?"

Chase replied, "I sure …"

"No he isn't," Leta interrupted. Chase stared at her coldly. "You are in no condition to be battling so soon. You need to give your body some rest."

"I can rest _after_ I battle Gary," Chase said, turning to face Gary again.

"Fine," Leta said, turning to walk away from Chase. "You battle him now, and I leave you. Your decision."

Chase froze for a second. He looked at Leta in disbelief. _This is the same Leta that said she loved me, and didn't want me to leave her? And she'll leave me if I battle Gary now? Why her!_ "I can't wait until next week. After this week, the league closes, and all the gyms also get closed down. So, do you really want me to not battle?"

Gary observed the two having their little argument. _Hehe__, reminds me of someone that I __know of. He never knew when to quit, and always put his mission ahead of what others thought__Chasey__, is she worth it?_ Gary started to laugh lightly to himself. His laughing got louder as he continued to watch the two kids fight.

"I don't think your body will be able to withstand the stress of the battle," Leta tried to reason.

"And this is the last time that I can challenge Gary this year, before the league closes for the season," Chase fought back.

Then they both yelled at each other. "I WISH YOU WOULD JUST UNDERSTAND THE WAY I FEEL!" Gary had held in his laughter the best he could, right up until that moment. That last comment caused him to laugh so hard, it startled the two kids out of their fight, and they stared at Gary.

Xxxxxx

Joy ran all over the hospital trying to look for Chase. She had even had his friends search for him. But after searching all over, they all came to one last option. _He had gone to challenge Gary._

Prof. Oak, who had come up from Pallet to watch this monumental battle, said, "If he could walk to where the gym was, I don't see a reason not to let him battle. That walk would cause anyone to back down if they weren't up to it."

"Fine, let's go see if he's there," Joy sighed, as the group left the hospital to go find Chase.

Xxxxxx

Chase and Leta were still staring at Gary. Misty had come up from the Cerulean to see this battle, knowing that it was going to be a very interesting battle. When she got there, she saw the two kids looking at a mess rolling on the ground. As she got closer to them, she asked, "What happened?"

"I don't know, we were arguing and then he started laughing," Leta said.

"Oh, and what were you two arguing about?" Misty asked.

"About whether or not I'm up to battling," Chase said.

"You made it here from the hospital on your feet?" Misty asked.

"Yeah," Chase answered.

"Then I don't see a reason as to why you shouldn't be able to battle. And since today is the last chance you got, you should," Misty said.

"Huh?! Wait a sec…" Leta said.

"Sorry Leta. Two to one says that I'm fit to battle," Chase said. "And now, Gary, let's battle!"

"One sec," Gary said. He motioned for Misty to come over to him. He then whispered all the events that happened prior to her arriving. After he finished, she started to laugh also.

"What's so funny?" Leta asked, irritated.

"Oh it's nothing of your concern. Just what happened reminded us of another boy who couldn't get through his skull about something," Misty explained.

"So, can we battle now?" Chase asked, growing bored and irritated by the minute.

"Yes, we can. FINAL POKEBATTLE SET! READY?" Gary started.

"Ready," Chase answered.

"BEGIN!" Misty announced.

Xxxxxx

"We're too late! It's already begun," Joy said, as the group made their way to the gym. By the time that they got there, the landscape had been torn to pieces, almost like a war had been going on.

As they got closer, they could see Chase battling Gary. Once they got close enough, Prof Oak asked for a quick rundown of the battle.

"Well, both of them are on their last pokemon. Both using their Umbreons. They've been using those two for quite some time now. Their other pokémon were knocked pretty quickly using type base match ups. But then these two came out, and I'd bet that these two are evenly matched," Leta said.

"I wouldn't say that," Prof Oak said. "Gary has had that Umbreon for a while. And I'm sure that he has a few tricks left to use."

"But then why hasn't he used them yet?" Adam asked.

"Maybe because he knows that those tricks won't work on another Umbreon," Misty said. "It's just going to come down to who can outlast the other."

"This has gone on long enough," Gary said. "We finish this now! Umbreon, use Hyper Beam!"

"Shadow," Chase called out, "counter with **Ultimate** Shadow Ball!"

Everyone was shocked to hear such an attack, since it was that man from NTR who had used it. Gary froze in place, as his Umbreon charged up. Chase didn't seem to have been bothered by the attack. And Shadow seemed to enjoy the fact that he got to use such an attack. But everyone had also heard the part that Nogitsune had snuck in.

_Is Nogitsune really evil?_ Leta thought to herself.

_Can Shadow actually use an attack that he never has even learned?_ Adam wondered.

_If I remember correctly, that attack was just as powerful as a Dark Hyper Beam that I ran into a few years back, _Gary thought to himself. _This might just end here after all. __But who?_

"NOW!" both Gary and Chase yelled. Both Umbreons launched their attacks.

The attacks collided.

And exploded.

And a smoke cloud filled the battle area.

As the smoke cleared, two bodies could been seen where the battle area was. One Umbreon had landed outside of the battle area. And one was still in it.

Both Gary and Chase strained to see who's Umbreon was still in the battle area.

"AND THE WINNER IS BY A RING OUT, CHASE AND SHADOW!" Misty announced.

"I won?" Chase asked himself. "I WON! SHADOW WE DID IT!" He ran up to Shadow and scooped him up. "SHADOW, WE WON BUDDY!"

BRE BRE! _YOU BET!_

"And now, as a symbol of your victory, I give you this. Your Earth Badge," Gary said, as he handed a badge to Chase. "Now, let's get our pokémon to the center, and you _back _to the hospital."

Chase quickly realized that he had been set up, as he watched everyone close in on him. "Um, about that, I agree with you on number one, but I'll pass on number two." Chase turned to run, and took only two steps before Leta had jumped on him and pinned him to the ground.

"This for your own good," Leta said. But then she leaned in closer to his ear and whispered, "_Chasey_"

Xxxxxx

It was finally dark outside. Chase was strapped into the hospital bed as he stared up at the ceiling. Everyone had gone to back to Pallet. Everyone, except Leta. She had stayed behind to keep Chase company while his body recovered in the hospital, which wouldn't take too long.

_Even if I had started to run, I couldn't have kept running for much time anyways. I was about ready to throw in the towel on that match. But something happened, _Chase thought.

_**Had to do it**_Nogitsune thought to Chase.

"You had to do it?" Chase asked. "That was my battle."

"**But you weren't going to win," **Nogitsune said.

"But a win is a win. And don't ever use that attack again, unless absolutely necessary," Chase warned Nogitsune.

Chase then heard a knock at the door. "Chase, you awake?" Leta asked, poking her head in the door.

_**It's her,**_Nogitsune thought to Chase.

_Indeed, be quiet and don't do anything, _Chase commanded Nogitsune. And then Chase pretended to be asleep.

"Guess he was sleeping talking again," Leta said, as she entered his room to sit in the chair by his bed. She had just about fallen asleep when Chase started talking again.

"You've come a long way, as a trainer," Chase said.

Surprised, Leta looked at Chase, not sure if she was hearing things. She had just made up her mind that she was too tired, and probably imagined it.

"I'm glad for you, you've become strong," Chase said again, but this time looking at her through the darkness in the room.

Leta figured she was imagining things this time, since she didn't move at all.

"And yet, you're still weak," Chase said, this time getting a reaction out of Leta.

"WEAK AM I?!" she asked with a punch to his gut.

"Hey, I'm here in recovery, and you punch me?!" Chase asked trying to get his breath back.

"Why am I weak?" she asked, threatening him with another punch that he could make out in the darkness in the room.

"Or perhaps it is I who is weak," Chase said thoughtfully. He held his breath as he watched Leta's arm slowly come down. "I started with only two goals in mind. And I didn't think I would deviate from those at all."

"And?" Leta asked, wanting Chase to go on.

Chase just stared at her, not really wanting to continue since he knew where this was leading. _It's not the right time_. "Nothing."

"Okay," Leta said, disappointed, since she also knew where it was going, One_ day, we'll be able to talk about this_. She took the chair beside his bed again. "Good night Chase."

"Night Leta," Chase answered, as he turned his focus on the ceiling above him.

Before Leta fell asleep, she remembered something. "Oh yeah, me, Adam, and Megan are going back to Hoenn in a few days, after you get out of the hospital." She paused for a minute. "I was, uh, wondering, if you would like to come see where we lived?" She was glad that the room was dark, since she was starting to feel her face turn a little red.

Chase didn't know what to say. He was kind of surprised. _Did she just ask me to…?_ He continued stare at the ceiling. _What do I say?_


	22. Leaving

**I don't own Pokémon, I won't own Pokémon. But I do own this story line and everything that isn't from the series.**

" " - talking; _Italics – _thinking; ' ' - speaking telepathically

Xxxxxx - break in day or event; Xxxxxxxxxxxx - change of days

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

The day after Chase was released from the hospital, he and Leta made their way to Pallet. It was a quiet trip back, since neither one of them really didn't know what to talk about.

Every now and then, Leta would steal a side glance at Chase. _Why hasn't he answered me yet? Why haven't you answered me yet?_ she thought, as she stared at him.

It was one of those times that Chase had decided to see what she was looking at. He quickly glanced over to her, and saw that she was looking at him. His eyes quickly returned to looking in front of him. He heard her sigh, as he hoped that she had stopped looking at him. _You're still waiting on an answer, aren't you Leta? _he asked to himself. _But to be honest, I don't know if I should._

Xxxxxx

Later that night, Prof Oak and Delia Ketchum had arranged a party for the trainers. It was mostly a small party though. Gary, Misty, Ash, Brock and his brother were invited. Sometime during the party, Gary pulled Chase off to the side.

"So what's your plan now, kid?" Gary asked.

"What do you mean?" Chase asked, caught off guard by the question.

"Don't play dumb," Gary said, hooking an arm around Chase's neck and guided him around the outskirts of the party. "We know that Leta likes you. And we also know that you like her. So, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know," Chase said.

"Oh come on, I overheard Leta and Misty talking about you earlier," Gary explained. "I also heard that she asked you to go back to Hoenn with her." Chase glared at Gary. "So, are you gonna go?"

"I already told you," Chase said, getting irritated and getting free from Gary's grasp, "I don't know." Then Chase walked back to the party.

Misty walked up to Gary. "So, how'd it go?" she asked.

"Not any better than earlier," he replied.

Chase walked away from Gary and Misty, past Leta, and straight up to Prof Oak and started to talk.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Leta was in her bed in the dark when she heard a knock at the door. She waited. She heard someone knock again. Then she heard a voice through the door.

"Leta, if your still awake, I need to tell you something," Chase said on the other side of the door.

Leta didn't move from her bed. _Should I talk to him? He pretty much ignored me at the party._

"You're probably asleep by now anyways," Chase's voice said through the door again. "But I need to talk to you. So come and find me tomorrow." Then Leta heard Chase walk to his room.

_Maybe he'll tell me tomorrow, _Leta thought to herself happily.

Meanwhile, Chase stared at his ceiling and thought, _She__ was asleep, so I'm going to have to find her in the morning._

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Chase was up early and outside doing chores that Prof Oak had asked him to do by the time the sun had come up. He had left all of his eevees at the lab so they could enjoy some freedom and relax. He was busy repairing a part of the fence that a Taurus had busted through the day prior. So busy, he didn't notice someone walking up to him.

"Yo man!" Adam said.

Chase jumped. He looked at the person who had snuck up on him. "Dude," he said catching his breath, "you know you shouldn't sneak up on people. Especially people who are using tools," waving the hammer in his hand.

Sweat dropping, Adam raised his hands in defense. "Sorry man, didn't mean to sneak up on ya. By the way, Prof Oak sent me up here to give you a hand on these chores."

"Oh, okay. Well, can you hold that board up?" Chase said, pointing to a board.

A few boards hammered onto the fence, Adam asked, "So, now that you have all the badges for the Kanto region, what is your next move?"

"Well, I had planned on moving onto the Johto region, and continuing on with my dream," Chase explained. "And then onto the next region, and the next, and so on. And at the same time, find my real parents. Not that imposter from NTR either."

"That's all nice and all," Adam said, "but I meant what are you going to do now, but before you leave for Johto."

Chase froze in mid swing. _What?_ He looked at Adam. "You mean, what am I going to do with my time before I can go to Johto?"

"Exactly," Adam said with a smile.

"Well, the Prof needs me here to help take care of the pokémon. So until the next season opens up, I'm probably going to stay here," Chase said.

"Why don't you come back to Hoenn and take a break from everything. A break from chores, battling, traveling, and NTR. Come on, what do ya say?" Adam asked.

"And what would I do?" Chase asked.

"Well, for starters, you'd get to meet all of our friends, and our parents. You might even get an idea of what a normal life really is when you see our family," Adam said with a smile.

"That would be nice," Chase said, looking into the sky.

_Almost done, Leta.__ Almost, _Adam thought.

"I'll think about it. No promises though," Chase said. "By the way, when do you guys leave again?"

"Tomorrow evening. Catching a boat in Vermilion and heading back in time to start getting ready for Christmas," Adam said. "Well, now that we are done with this, why don't we head back to the lab and get ready for supper?"

"Good idea," Chase said.

Xxxxxx

After supper, Chase walked out to finish up on his last chore for the day. Well, it wasn't a chore, just something he always did when he worked at Oak's lab. He laid down on the grass and watched the stars shine. _Well, they both want me to go to __Hoenn__ with them. But I can't leave the Prof by himself. I…_ his thoughts got interrupted by the sounds of footsteps.

"So, whatcha doing out here this late, Chase?" Leta asked.

"Thinking," he replied.

"About?" she asked.

"Things," Chase said, still looking at the stars.

"Do you mind," Leta asked, motioning if she could sit beside him. He nodded his head. After a few minutes, she asked, "Have you decided yet?"

He knew it was coming, yet the question still took Chase by surprise. "I have. I have decided that I am needed here until at least the next season starts up again. And from there, I'm gonna head to Johto and continue on."

"So, you won't be coming with us when we leave?" she asked nervously.

He could sense that might have just said the wrong words that she didn't want to hear. "But," he started to say, "I would have liked to have gone with you guys. But I'm just needed here for now." He watched her as she nodded her head understanding. He thought for a moment. "Hey, I just thought of something!"

"What?" Leta asked.

"Why don't we meet up in Johto at the beginning of the next season?" he asked. He was hoping that would take away some of the pain that he could see on her face. And much to his relief, it did.

"Well, I can understand that you're needed until the next season," she said. "As long as you promise that we will meet up in Johto."

"I promise," Chase said.

"Really?" she asked.

"Really," he said.

"Really really?" she asked again.

"Really really," he said laughing.

"Good! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go make sure I'm packed up," Leta said, getting up. _And I need to ask Prof Oak for a favor._

Xxxxxx

"But what do you need these old stones and shards for? They're no good anymore." Prof Oak asked Leta.

"I have a plan for them, and I can't tell you either," Leta said with a smile.

"Does this happen to involve a boy?" he asked.

"Maybe," she said, thankful that she was walking out at that moment, as she was starting to turn a little red.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Adam, Leta, and Megan were getting ready to get on the boat to o back to Hoenn in Vermilion. Chase was the only one that had gone to see them off. Their things had already been taken aboard the ship, and they were just saying goodbye to everyone. It was finally time for Chase and Leta to say bye to each other.

"So, you promise to meet me in Johto?" Leta asked.

"Yup. I'll wait there for you," Chase answered. "Wait, what about your brother and Megan then?"

"Oh don't worry about us. After the season starts, the two of us are going to the islands!" Megan said excitedly.

"Oh, so I'll see you two much later then," Chase said, half laughing at Megan's answer, and the look on Adam's face. He watched Megan lead Adam onto the boat. "You better follow them, or the boat is going to leave you," he said to Leta.

"Oh, I'll get on before the boat leaves," Leta said. "I just . . ." she stopped herself and hugged Chase as hard as she could.

"Um, Leta?" Chase asked nervously. "The boat is going to leave soon."

"I really wanted you to come with us," she said.

"But I already told you that I couldn't go. _And_ I already promised you that we'd meet in Johto and continue together. What more do you want?" Chase asked.

"What I want is ," she stared to say, but was cut off by the horn signaling the last call for passengers on the boat.

Chase gently shook her off. "Never mind that. The boat is going to leave. You _need _ to get on now," he said, gently pushing her towards the boat. "I promise to see you in Johto. Now get on."

"Fine, I'll get on, and I'll see you in Johto," Leta said. After boarding the boat, she found her way to the back end of the boat. She found Megan and Adam there. Then the boat started to pull away from the dock. As the dock got farther away, Leta found Chase standing on the very end of the dock, watching the boat leave. _See you in __Johto_

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

**ALRIGHTY! That's the end of the chapter, and the end of Chase, the Eevee Master.**

**But wait! It doesn't end there! **_**Now**_**, I get to write my mini-****fic****A little X-****mas****fic**** staring our favorite characters.**

**So, leave me a review! **

**And watch for: Christmas with the Masters**

**And to all my readers who have left me reviews. I love each and every one of you! Without your support, I probably wouldn't have continued. I hope that you all will continue to read writings.**

**See ya'll in the next one!**

**Chase Nirvs**


End file.
